A life of charity
Published: June 13, 2005
Numbers always have defined Richard Semmler.
A 59-year-old mathematician, he teaches calculus and algebra at Northern Virginia Community College. But in his private life, Semmler has reduced his existence to the simplest equation.
In the past 35 years, by working part-time jobs and forgoing such everyday comforts as a home telephone and vacations, by living in an efficiency apartment and driving an old car, Semmler has donated as much as half of his annual income or more to charity.
His goal: $1 million before he retires.
“If I didn’t do all of the things I was doing, I would probably have a new car every two years, and I would have a huge house with a huge pool,” Semmler said as he took a break from pounding nails on a Habitat for Humanity house in Vienna, Va. He donated $100,000 to this house, most of the money required to build it.
He stared determinedly up at the half-finished house, his T-shirt streaked with sweat and sawdust.
“But I would not do it that way,” he said. “I want to do it this way.”
Percentage-wise, Semmler’s generosity is exceedingly rare among the middle class — or the rich, for that matter, say those who study philanthropy. Each year, U.S. households give away an average of 2 percent of their income to nonprofit and religious organizations, according to Giving USA, which tracks donation trends.
After several years of making anemic contributions, Americans’ charitable donations rose 5 percent last year to $248.5 billion, according to a report to be released today by Giving USA.
A household with Semmler’s annual income, $100,000, donates an average of $2,000 annually to charity. Last year, Semmler gave away $60,000.
One beneficiary of his largesse: his employer. Since joining NVCC in 1974, Semmler has given $355,000 to fund scholarships, as well as the school’s distance-learning program, where he often works.
“He’s a great example not only for this college but for anybody,” said John Ruffino, executive director of the NVCC Educational Foundation, which puts Semmler in the top tier of its private donors.
A list of Semmler’s charitable contributions, which he prints by hand in neat columns, shows that he also has donated $200,000 to his alma mater, Plattsburgh State University of New York.
By the end of this year, by his calculations, his generosity will total slightly more than $770,000.
Those are the numbers expected from the scion of a wealthy family, not the son of a Rochester electrician and a secretary who couldn’t afford to send their son to college. Semmler, a top track athlete in high school, attended Plattsburgh State on scholarships.
In gratitude, he made his first contribution — $25 — to the school after graduating in 1968.
Three decades later, he resembles a youthful, beardless Santa Claus — with his rolling laugh, bushy white hair, rosy face and slight paunch. Those who work with him say he is always smiling.
He never has married, and he lives alone in a tiny condo in a faded apartment building on Scott Circle NW in Washington, D.C. It is strewn with papers from the math textbooks he writes and edits to help fund his charitable ventures.
“Most of my dollars go to very specific projects, so I know what I’m funding,” Semmler said. “I want to see my dollars at work.”
By standard calculations, the personal price for Semmler has been high. Leisure activities are few. Aside from textbook work, he is also a part-time maintenance man at the suburban Washington building where he owns a condo that he rents out.
But even with extra work, he expects he will have to sell his D.C. condo shortly to meet some of his charitable commitments.
Life isn’t always about multiplying what you get, he explained. Sometimes, it’s about subtraction.
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