Fischer Black papers

Fischer Black (1938-1995) was an american economist and professor of finance known for the Black-Scholes Equation. Black graduated from Harvard University in 1959 with a degree in physics and in 1964 with a doctorate in applied mathematics. (1) During the late 1960s and 1970s he collaborated with Myron Scholes and Robert C. Merton, both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2) In 1971 he became a professor of finance at the University of Chicago, transitioning to a professorship at MIT in 1975. (3) Black left academics by resigning from MIT in 1985 to become a partner at Goldman Sachs. (4) He remained there until his death due to throat cancer in 1995.

Black published two widely regarded books: Business Cycles and Equilibrium (1987) and exploring General Equilibrium (1995). In addition he has both a professorship (the Fischer Black Visiting Professorship of Financial Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management) and an international award (the Fischer Black Prize by the American Finance Association) named in his honor. (5)

1. Henriques, Diana B. “Fischer Black, 57, Wall Street Theorist, Dies.” The New York Times, August 31, 1995, sec. Obituaries. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/31/obituaries/fischer-black-57-wall-street-theorist-dies.html.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Office of the President. “Report of the President for the Academic Year 1969-1970,” 1971. http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/59051.

3. ———. “Report of the President and the Chancellor Issue 1974-1975,” 1975. http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/59056.

4. ———. “Report of the President 1985-1986,” 1986. http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/62220.

5. “Fischer Black, 57, Wall Street Theorist, Dies.”