MS in Applied Data Science Students Step Onto the Trading Floor at Cboe
On the trading floor at Cboe Global Markets, a group of students from the University of Chicago’s Master of Science in Applied Data Science program gathered near the closing bell as the final seconds of the trading day ticked down. When the clock hit 3:15 PM, MS-ADS student Adaora Ezike rang the bell.
“I was a little nervous,” she said. “Especially with all the cameras and eyes on me. But when I began ringing the bell and heard everyone cheering, all of that went away. I was just so thankful for the opportunity.”
Earlier that day, the visit began inside Cboe’s offices in the Old Post Office, where students attended a panel hosted by the company’s Women in Tech resource group. The discussion was moderated by alumna Yuwei (Alice) Zhang, MS-ADS ’25, who is now a senior quantitative analyst at Cboe. Zhang guided the conversation while other panelists who work in data, recruiting, business, and operations shared insights into their work.
Among them was Johnny Pesenti, a Manager of Data and Analytics at Cboe, who offered a closer look at how data teams operate inside the exchange. The work, he explained, often centers on answering practical business questions, building dashboards to track trading volume, understanding who is trading and how much, and helping teams make decisions based on that information.
That theme carried into the broader discussion about careers. Panelists emphasized the importance of showing what you’ve built, especially for candidates without traditional experience. Projects matter. So does being able to clearly explain your approach, what problem you were solving, why you chose certain tools, and what impact your work had.
They also pointed to qualities that are harder to quantify. Authenticity—owning your story and where you’re going. Coachability—being open to feedback. And confidence in talking about your own experiences, even early on.
“I really enjoyed the panel discussion,” Ezike said. “Hearing from the employees about their career paths and what they look for in interviews made the industry feel a whole lot more accessible to me.”
From there, the group moved to the trading floor.
Students watched as traders and market makers executed orders while systems routed trades in real time. Although most trading is electronic, a portion still happens through open outcry.
For MS-ADS student Sabyasachi Chowdhury, the experience connected concepts he had previously only encountered in class.
“Chicago is one of the oldest centers where modern financial markets began to mature,” he said. “Cboe is known for developing the VIX, one of the most widely tracked global volatility indices. Until now, these ideas were largely theoretical and academic for me. What stood out yesterday was seeing those concepts play out in real time through the constant movement and intensity on the trading floor.”
He also pointed to the scale of activity. Cboe reports tens of millions of options contracts traded daily, alongside tens of billions of dollars in U.S. equities volume. But what stayed with him was the closing sequence itself.
“The market close is something special,” he said. “It compresses uncertainty and conviction into the final minutes, where some participants rush to square positions while others take fresh bets, all against the clock. At the closing bell, outcomes are effectively locked in.”
He went on to add, “being the ones to ring that bell yesterday made the moment deeply meaningful. It’s a simple act, but one that carries real significance for everyone in the market.”
For students in the MS in Applied Data Science program, the visit brought classroom concepts into focus. Back at the NBC Tower, classmates gathered for a watch party, tuning in as the closing bell rang, connecting the moment on the trading floor to a broader community of students learning alongside them.
