A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Fred Arditti studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in economics. After a career in academia at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Florida, Arditti entered the financial industry, ultimately joining the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as its chief economist in 1980. He held that position until 1982, pioneering futures contracts that helped transform how businesses and individuals manage risk. Most notable was Arditti's work with the exchange's Eurodollar Contract, the world's most actively traded futures contract. Arditti joined DePaul's faculty in 1990.

In 1997, he returned to CME. As senior executive vice president of planning and development, he was instrumental in organizing CME's business development structure to strengthen its focus on innovation as it faced intensive competition in the new century from domestic and international markets. It was during this time that he originated weather futures and led CME's electronic trading business, which now accounts for about 75% of the exchange's trade. Alongside his academic and industry activities, Arditti published widely in various academic journals. Most notably, he authored "Derivatives," which has become one of the most assigned books on that subject at many universities.