Featured Speaker

Richard Schaeffer ‘74 is chairman of NYMEX Holdings, Inc., and the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. Mr. Schaeffer has been a member of the board of directors since March 1990. He was the treasurer of the Exchange from 1993 to 2004, the vice chairman from 2004 to 2006, and has been an executive committee member since 1992.

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals. The Exchange has stood for market integrity and price transparency for more than 130 years. Trading is conducted through two divisions, the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets; and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. The Exchange pioneered the development of energy futures and options contracts 26 years ago as means of bringing price transparency and risk management to this vital market. The Exchange plays a vibrant role in the commercial, civic, and cultural life of New York. It provides thousands of jobs in the financial services and allied industries and, through the New York Mercantile Exchange Charitable Foundation, supports cultural and social service programs in the downtown community as well as broader charitable endeavors in the metropolitan area. The Exchange has supported initiatives of the Robert H. Smith School by sponsoring the 2006 China Business Plan Competition and a television documentary project produced with Maryland Public Television.

Schaeffer has been an Exchange member and seat-owner since 1981. He was an executive director of global energy futures for ABN Amro, Inc., and a conferring member on behalf of the company and its predecessor, Chicago Corp., since 1987 on all of the New York commodity exchanges.

Schaeffer is an accounting graduate of the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a current member of the Board of Visitors. He is married and lives in New York City.