Tom Donovan presided over the Chicago Board of Trade for nearly two decades. After holding several prominent positions in the Chicago city government, including administrative assistant to mayor Richard Daley, he joined the CBOT as secretary in 1979 and was appointed president and chief executive officer in 1982. He was a master politician, raising the profile of the futures industry in Washington. He also led the CBOT into the era of electronic trading with the introduction of Project A.  In 1984, FIA members, seeking to improve relations between futures commission merchants and exchanges, elected him to the FIA’s board of directors, and subsequently to the executive committee. He also has served on the board of directors of the National Futures Association. His extraordinary political skills in both Chicago and Washington were an invaluable asset to the exchange and the industry.