Merton H. Miller; Economist and Professor Won Nobel Prize

Merton H. Miller, 77, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and retired University of Chicago finance professor. Awarded the Nobel in 1990, Miller was honored for “pioneering work in the theory of financial economics” and for “fundamental contributions to the theory of corporate finance,” according to his citation by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science. He was credited with helping corporations make better decisions about financial leverage, lowering corporate taxes and financing investments more efficiently. Born in Boston, he graduated from Harvard University in 1943, then worked as an economist for the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board. In 1952, Miller received a PhD in economics from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago’s business school in 1961 and stayed until his retirement in 1993. He was the author of eight books, including “Merton Miller on Derivatives” (1997) and “Financial Innovations and Market Volatility” (1991). On Saturday at his home in Chicago from lymphoma.