"Myron Scholes was instrumental in revolutionizing bringing innovation and unprecedented growth to derivatives markets," CME Chairman Scott Gordon said. "The CME Board will welcome his counsel as we position ourselves to capture new opportunities in a for-profit structure."
CME President and CEO Jim McNulty said, "Myron Scholes' experience and knowledge of derivatives markets will be a further catalyst for the reinvention and transformation of the CME as we move to a customer focus, shareholder value model."
Scholes said, "I have enjoyed interacting with leaders of the Merc over the years, and I hope that by joining the Board, my insights will be helpful in the exchange's efforts to innovate and create value for its constituents."
Scholes is the Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He earned a B.A. degree from McMaster University in Ontario, and MBA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago, where he was a professor from 1973 to 1983. Scholes joined the Stanford faculty in 1983.
Scholes, along with Fischer Black, published a new method of determining the value of derivatives that now bears their name. Their work in the 1970s provided investors with new ways of addressing financial risk, spurring the growth of the financial derivatives markets in the ensuing decades.
He resides in San Francisco with his wife, Jan.
