CME Group Fred Arditti Innovation Award

The CME Group Fred Arditti Innovation Award CME Group Center for Innovation’s signature program, annually honors an individual or group of individuals whose innovative ideas, products or services have created significant change to markets, commerce or trade. The award strives to celebrate innovation in action – not only the creative idea, but also the impact that practical application of the idea has made on improving the economic well-being of individuals, an industry or a nation.

The award is named after Fred Arditti, CME's chief economist from 1980 to 1982. Dr. Arditti pioneered futures contracts that transformed how businesses and individuals manage risk – most notably, the CME Eurodollar futures contract, the world's most actively traded futures contract. Later, as senior executive vice president of planning and development, he was instrumental in organizing CME's business development structure to strengthen its focus on innovation as it faced intensive competition in the new century from domestic and international markets. It was during this time that he originated weather futures.

Fred Arditti's commitment to creative thinking and innovative ideas was reflected in his many activities outside of CME. He taught courses in futures and options while serving as a professor of finance at DePaul University in Chicago, beginning in 1990. He also authored “Derivatives,” which has become one of the most assigned books on the subject at many universities. Later, Dr. Arditti served as chairman of the University of Florida's Economics Department and as a visiting professor at several institutions. He also published in various academic journals and received a number of research grants.

Dr. Arditti's lifetime achievements embody the kind of innovative thinking and practical benefit to commerce and markets that this award strives to honor.