The afternoon’s tone was perhaps best captured by Miller’s former student and colleague Eugene Fama, M.B.A. ’63, Ph.D. ’64, who said Miller “accepted his oncoming death with the inner strength that comes from a life lived well. ” The conviction that Miller’s was indeed a life lived well made the service a celebration of his enduring contributions as a scholar, teacher, mentor, and friend.

Fama, Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, went on to call Miller “the quintessential University of Chicago professor. . . . He was always grateful, enthusiastic, and full of ideas about how a work could be improved. . . . Merton was one of a handful of people who, in a five-minute conversation, could get you to change your thinking about something and influence you in a new way. ”

Another former student, Myron Scholes, M.B.A. ’64, Ph.D. ’70, called Miller “our Leonardo da Vinci” because of his ease in moving between the arts, humanities, and social sciences. “He struck upon the magic of innovation by studying unrelated subjects and letting his mind make the connections, ” said the 1997 Nobel laureate. “Around Merton, learning was always present. . . . He has left us a research legacy that will be treasured for years to come. ”

Richard Posner, chief judge of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and senior lecturer at the law school, talked about the influence that Miller bore not only on economics, but also on law and the law-economics movement. According to Posner, Miller possessed the “combination of a high theoretical imagination with intense focus. ” At the end of a life so well spent, said Posner, one should feel “the satisfaction of having made a contribution that money cannot buy . . . of having traveled far in the realm of thought. ”

Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus and senior policy adviser to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, remembered Miller most vividly as a feisty, lively, honest man, full of spark and humor. “It was love at first sight, and I’m not speaking of Merton’s love of Katherine, ” Melamed said, referring to Katherine Miller, A.B. ’65, M.B.A. ’68, Ph.D. ’71, (left) Merton Miller’s second wife and partner for nearly 30 years. “I’m talking about his love affair with derivatives––especially with futures. ‘Futures markets get no respect, ’ he would say in Rodney Dangerfield fashion. He even found it objectionable that our markets were called ‘derivatives. ’ ‘What are they, second-class citizens? ’ he would say. ”

Francis Yuen, a university trustee and former chief executive of the Hong Kong stock exchange, came from Asia for the service. “I didn’t have the privilege to work or study under Miller, ” Yuen said, “but as a student, I was brought up under the influence of Chicago professors, among which Miller was one of the most prominent. ” Yuen, who met Miller at a conference in Taiwan, said Miller became “perhaps the University of Chicago’s best ambassador to Asia. I lost Professor Miller as a friend and mentor. The world lost a great mind. But the Chicago tradition, which Miller worked to shape and sustain, will continue. ”

According to Katherine Miller, “economics was both Merton’s vocation and his avocation. ” In life, she said, “he focused on what he did best––teaching, reading, and writing––and was mostly undistracted, with the notable exception of football, and particularly the Chicago Bears. ” Miller reflected on her husband’s life and the crowd that had gathered to honor it.

“Merton was acknowledged and honored in his lifetime, ” she said. “When all is said and done, it is the friends, family, colleagues, and former students, many of whom are here today, that are Merton’s greatest legacy. ”

Seven Nobel laureates––Gary S. Becker, A.B. ’51, A.M. ’53, Ph.D. ’55, University Professor of Economics and Sociology; Ronald H. Coase, Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Economics; Robert E. Lucas Jr., A.B. ’59, Ph.D. ’64, John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor of Economics; Harry M. Markowitz; Robert C. Merton; Scholes; and William F. Sharpe––joined more than 200 guests at a luncheon preceding the service. Robert Fogel, Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions, was in China and unable to attend. At the luncheon, people shared memories of Miller, and a letter from his longtime colleague and coauthor Franco Modigliani was read to guests, who came from such nations as Australia, England, Germany, and Japan. A public reception in Miller’s honor followed the memorial service. ––E.T.