CME Group Announces $50,000 in Scholarships to Illinois State Fair Grand Champions

CHICAGO, Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, has presented one-time scholarships totaling $50,000 to the Illinois State Fair's Grand Champion student exhibitors.  CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy presented the surprise scholarships of $5,000 to each student exhibiting Grand Champion livestock at last night's Governor's Auction of Champions and will be used for each student to further their education. 

"These scholarships are just another way to show our support for the future farmers and ranchers in Illinois who are vital to our state, the national economy and play an important role in feeding the world," said Duffy.  "The talent and commitment of the students participating in 4-H and competing at these fairs is impressive.  And at CME Group, we are honored to help them further their education."

Recipients of the CME Group scholarships were:

• Morgan Wilderman, Greenville IL
• Jacob Hinshaw, Secor IL
• Carlee Critchelow, Chandlerville IL
• Skylynn Flemming, Paxton IL
• Cole Ellerbrock, Atkinson, IL
• Trace Titus, Alexis IL
• Grant Kiefer, Gridley, IL
• Dylan McCafferty, Sherman IL
• Taylor Donelson, Clinton IL
• A.J. Line, Seaton IL

The scholarships were awarded as part of CME Group's ongoing educational efforts, including the third consecutive year of its partnership with the National 4-H Council, the country's largest youth development organization to educate children about the economics of agriculture.  Together they bring the popular, award-winning Commodity Carnival experience to state and county fairs across the country – reaching over 100,000 youth to date.   The Commodity Carnival is an interactive and educational game about the business of agriculture and teaches young fairgoers how to manage the costs and risks associated with bringing an animal to market.  Beyond the fairgrounds and throughout the year, the Commodity Carnival mobile app, Risk Ranch, enables people of all ages to try their hand at agricultural risk management from their mobile devices, as well as online.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform, its trading facilities in New York and Chicago, and through its London-based CME Europe derivatives exchange.  CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe, which offer clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions.  These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  KCBOT, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group