Gary L. Seevers

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Gary L. Seevers was an American economist and former government official who served as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 1975 to 1979. He also served as acting chair of the CFTC. He passed away February 1, 2025 at the age of 87.
On March 12, 2009, Seevers was inducted into the Futures Industry Association's Futures Hall of Fame, which was established in 2005 to commemorate outstanding contributions to the global futures and options community.
 
== Background ==
Seevers was born in 1938 in Jonesville, Michigan. He was active in 4-H as a youth and attended 4-H camp at Michigan State University. 
After completing his doctoral studies, Seevers began his career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He later moved to Washington D.C., where he served on the President's Council of Economic Advisers from 1973 to 1975. From 1970 to 1972 he was a senior staff economist for the organization and served as special assistant to Chairman Herbert Stein from 1972 to 1973.
In 1975, Seevers was appointed by President Gerald Ford as one of the first commissioners of the newly-created Commodity Futures Trading Commission. During his tenure at the CFTC, which lasted until 1979, Seevers played a crucial role in establishing the regulatory framework for the U.S. futures markets.
After leaving the CFTC, Seevers transitioned to the private sector. He joined Goldman Sachs as a partner in 1979, where he worked until his retirement in the late 1990s. At Goldman Sachs, Seevers focused on commodities and futures markets, leveraging his regulatory experience to advise clients and help develop the firm's commodities business.
== Education ==
Seevers hold Bachelor of Science degree in animal science from Michigan State University (1959), and a Masters of Science degree in agricultural economics (1966) and PhD (1968) from Michigan State.
In 2000, he established the Gary L. Seevers Scholarship fund for Honors College students at Michigan State University with a $600,000 gift. Later, in collaboration with President Emeritus Gordon Guyer, he created the Guyer/Seevers Chair in Natural Resource Conservation with an initial $1.25 million gift in 2004, supplemented by a $1 million charitable gift annuity in 2007 and a $1 million charitable remainder trust in 2010 to further support both the scholarship and chair.
In 2018, Seevers donated $3 million to renovate Cook Hall, renamed Cook-Seevers Hall, providing a state-of-the-art collaborative space for graduate students in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics. The renovation preserved the historic character of the 1889 building while improving accessibility with an elevator and modernized facilities. Seevers' philanthropy has been recognized with the MSU Alumni Association's Philanthropist Award in 2004.
== References ==	
Category:Economists
Category:Regulators
Category:Futures Hall of Fame Members
Category:CFTC
Category:CFTC - Former Commissioners
Category:Commodity Futures Trading Commission - Former Employees
Category:Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco 
Category:Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco - Former Employees
Category:Council of Economic Advisers
Category:Goldman Sachs
Category:Goldman Sachs - Former Employees