{{Short description|American businessman (1893–1987)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Emil Schram | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | caption = | office = President of the New York Stock Exchange | term_start = 1941 | term_end = 1951 | predecessor = William McChesney Martin | successor = G. Keith Funston | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{birth date|1893|11|23}} | birth_place = Peru, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1987|09|18|1893|11|23}} | death_place = Peru, Indiana, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Mabel Miller<br>Margaret Beauchamp. }} '''Emil Schram''' (November 23, 1893 – September 18, 1987) was the president of the New York Stock Exchange from 1941 to 1951. In the wake of the Great Depression, Schram helped restore confidence in investment and stocks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/19/obituaries/emil-schram-ex-president-of-stock-exchange-is-dead.html|title=Emil Schram, Ex-President Of Stock Exchange, Is Dead|last=Flint|first=Peter B.|date=1987-09-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-09-17|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Before his appointment, Schram did not own any stocks and had never been a Wall Street trader, making him the first outsider to become president of the exchange in 155 years.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_4DAAAAMBAJ&q=Emil+Schram&pg=PA16|title=Kiplinger's Personal Finance|date=1947|publisher=Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.|language=en}}</ref>
==Early life== Schram was born in Peru, Indiana, where he attended local schools through high-school. He was accepted into Harvard and Wharton, but couldn't afford tuition.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.indianahistory.org/our-collections/collection-guides/emil-schram-collection.pdf|title=Emil Schram Collection|last=|first=|date=|website=Indiana History|access-date=|archive-date=2016-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421085826/http://www.indianahistory.org/our-collections/collection-guides/emil-schram-collection.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Instead, he went to work in a timber and coal company with local offices. At age 21 he proved himself to be an effective farm manager, making investment decisions that dramatically increased the output of a local farm under the firms control.,<ref name=":0" />
==Career== Schram's early success in farm management led him accept a position as chairman of the National Drainage Association, an agricultural trade group. While working for the Association, Schram applied for loans with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which was a Depression/New Deal era government corporation tasked with making loans to infrastructure projects and businesses and helping banks resume normal operations.
In 1933, Schram joined the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In 1939 he became the chairman of the Board of Directors of the RFC.<ref>Preliminary inventory of the records of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932–1964 (PI 181, Record Group 173), National Archives and Records Service, 1973.</ref> His chairmanship was short lived, however, because less than two years later he was offered the position that would define his career.
In 1941 the New York Stock Exchange was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Trade volume was very low, seats were sold cheaper than in previous decades, and the exchange had been the target of political attacks. A selection committee was formed to find a new president, and they selected Schram. Before his appointment, Schram did not own any stocks and had never been a Wall Street trader, making him the first outsider to become president of the exchange in 155 years.<ref name=":1" />
Schram reformed the management structure of the Exchange, removing many of the traditional committees in favor of a top-town approach. He spent $500,000 per year on nationwide advertising programs encouraging the public to hold on to war bonds in an effort to keep small-time investors out of the market.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Under Schram's leadership, the NYSE recovered, and public confidence was restored.
===Later career=== In 1951, at age 58, Schram retired from the Exchange and returned home to Peru, Indiana. Schram was succeeded by G. Keith Funston.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nyse.com/pdfs/pres_chmn_ceo.pdf|title=Presidents and Chairmen of the New York Stock Exchange|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421013059/http://www.nyse.com/pdfs/pres_chmn_ceo.pdf|archive-date=2009-04-21|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> In his later life he remained active in civic organizations including the local council of the Boy Scouts of America and the U.S.O.<ref name=":2" />
==Personal life== Emil Schram's first wife was Mabel Miller, with whom he had three sons, Robert Schram, Daniel Schram, and James Schram. Mabel died in 1969,<ref name="1969Obit">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Emil Schram |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/05/27/78346833.pdf |accessdate=17 December 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=27 May 1969}}</ref> and Schram later married Margaret Beauchamp.<ref name=":0" />
Schram died in 1987 in Peru, Indiana.<ref name=":0" />
==Honors==
In 1968, Emil Schram was awarded an honorary doctorate from Indiana University, Bloomington.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/university/honorary-degrees.shtml|title=Honorary Degrees: University: University Honors & Awards: Indiana University|website=honorsandawards.iu.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-09-20}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-bus}} {{succession box | title = President of the<br>New York Stock Exchange | before = William McChesney Martin, Jr. | after = G. Keith Funston | years = 1941 – 1951 }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schram, Emil}} Category:1893 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Presidents of the New York Stock Exchange