Fred Arditti, Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s chief economist from 1980 to 1982, played a critical role in the development of the Eurodollar futures contract, today the most actively traded futures contract in the world and one of the most essential building blocks of the interest rate swaps market. Arditti received his Ph. D in economics in 1966 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spent many years in academia, teaching at such universities as DePaul University and the University of Florida. He also authored the book Derivatives, a work highly respected by both practitioners and academics. During his second stint at CME from 1997 to 2000, he served as senior executive vice president of planning and development and spearheaded the exchange’s efforts to develop new types of futures contracts, including futures based on weather. In 2005, Arditti passed away of pancreatic cancer.
