Finance Department Hosts Nobel Laureates Robert Merton and Myron Scholes at 2023 CISDM Conference

On November 3, 2023, the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts held a one-day worldwide Center for International Securities and Derivative Markets (CISDM) conference both virtually and on-campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Black-Merton-Scholes option pricing.

The hybrid event, spearheaded by Isenberg Finance Professor Sanjay Nawalkha, was co-hosted offline by Isenberg Finance Professors Hossein Kazemi and Mila Getmansky Sherman and virtually (including participants from all over the world) by Nawalkha. The event culminated in a presentation by keynote speaker Myron Scholes, 1997 Nobel laureate in economic sciences and Professor of Finance Emeritus at Stanford University.

Nawalkha also spoke on his ground-breaking research (co-authored with Xiaoyang Zhuo of the Beijing Institute of Technology) published in The Journal of Finance in 2022, which extended and generalized the work of Fischer Black, Robert Merton, and Scholes from the 1970s. “What an honor it is to speak today in this forum. We are so happy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Black-Merton-Scholes option pricing,” noted Nawalkha.

Six other esteemed professors from prestigious universities across the United States and Canada joined the conference’s 90 attendees, checking in both in-person and on Zoom. “It is an exceptional honor to be here and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of [Scholes’] amazing invention,” said Darrell Duffie, Adams Distinguished Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Stanford University, upon the conclusion of his talk on dealer capacity and U.S. Treasury market functionality.

Isenberg’s Charles P. McQuaid Endowed Professor of Finance Bing Liang noted, “The Nov. 3 conference was very successful and historic. I truly enjoyed the full day in person and learned quite a bit about history. The conversation between Scholes and Nawalkha was particularly interesting to me and I hope Nawalkha can publish his second paper soon!”

The celebration continued on December 1, 2023, when Merton came to campus to speak to 70 Isenberg students and faculty members in the Business Innovation Hub. Merton, who shared the 1997 economic sciences Nobel prize with Scholes, is the School of Management Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management and John and Natty McArthur University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. Merton’s talk was followed by Leo Melamed Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago George Constantinides delivering a lecture on Zoom.

“It is incredible that Isenberg was able to host both these events showcasing central figures of finance,” said Andrew Sood, a student in Isenberg’s Master of Finance graduate program who attended both CISDM-hosted events. “The two events have really brought my education here to a different and incredible level.”

To view recordings of each of this year’s speakers, visit the CISDM Center at Isenberg School of Management YouTube page here.

2023 CISDM Conference Speakers

Douglas T. Breeden, William W. Priest Professor of Finance and former Dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

George Constantinides, Leo Melamed Professor of Finance, University of Chicago

Darrell Duffie, Adams Distinguished Professor of Management and Professor of Finance, Stanford University

Emanuel Derman, Professor of Practice Emeritus, Financial Engineering Program, Columbia University

John Hull, Maple Financial Professor of Derivatives and Risk Management, and Academic Director of the Financial Innovation Hub at Rotman, University of Toronto

Robert Jarrow, Ronald P. and Susan E. Lynch Professor of Investment Management, Cornell University

Robert Merton, School of Management Distinguished Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management; John and Natty McArthur University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

Sanjay Nawalkha, Finance Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Myron Scholes, Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus, Stanford University, and 1997 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences