James M. Stone is the founder and chief executive of the Plymouth Rock group of insurance companies, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, former Commonwealth of Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner, and an active philanthropist. He has served on the boards of directors of the Boston Globe, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (a leading genetics institute), Management Sciences for Health (an international humanitarian non-profit), and Global Post (a worldwide news service). He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and has spoken or published frequently in the field of the finance and economics. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Art and Sciences. Stone is married and the father of twins. He lives in Boston.