Williamson Trustee Richard G. Clemens was recognized as a Distinguished Honoree by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, at the 31st Annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon in Philadelphia recently.
Clemens, a senior partner at Sidley Austin LLP, one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the United States, until his retirement in 2007, was head of the firm’s Insurance and Financial Group, a 90-lawyer group specializing in the insurance and financial services industry and he was the firm’s first lawyer to serve in an overseas office.
Clemens has a long history of supporting Williamson, financially and in other ways. He has served as a trustee for ten years, but his relationship with the school goes back to 1954-65 when he lived on campus while attending college and law school and his father, James Clemens, was serving as president.
In 2005, he was the Commencement speaker and officiated at the unveiling of a plaque naming the President’s Office after his father for his service and the family’s generous support of Williamson over the years. In 2006, he was a speaker at the dedication of the Strine Learning Center and officiated at the dedication of the Center’s James and Jeanette Clemens Educational Wing, named for his parents and made possible through a generous donation by he and his wife Judith.
A financial supporter for over 40 years, he has supported Williamson’s annual giving program, the Power Plant Technology Program, athletics, and student life. He is also a member of the John Wanamaker Society because he has included Williamson in his estate plans.
Most recently, Clemens arranged for Williamson to become a partner college of the Give Something Back Foundation, an organization that awards scholarships to students of modest means to help them get a college education. This partnership lead to a $250,000 grant from the foundation, which he matched.
He is the author of the book, Rescuing America: The Bipartisan Path. Published in 2008, he appeared on over 25 radio and television talk shows promoting it.
He is a director of the Naples Council on World Affairs, which sponsors lectures on world affairs and operates school outreach programs in Southwest Florida. He is a volunteer consultant for the Executive Service Corps of Chicago, a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono consulting services to charitable organizations on matters concerning governance, strategic planning, board development, and fund development. He also serves as a volunteer fund development consultant for OneGoal, a Chicago-based not-for-profit college access organization that helps inner-city high school students finish high school and attend college.
He graduated with honors in 1962 from the University of Virginia’s College of Arts and Sciences, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa member, and graduated second in his class from the University of Virginia Law School in 1965, where he was an editor of the Virginia Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He has established endowed scholarships at both the College of the Arts and Sciences and the Law School.
In 2015, as one of the comanagers of his law school class’ 50th reunion gift campaign, he helped raise $3.9 million in gifts and pledges from his 204 classmates. His class had a gift participation rate of 70 percent, the highest of all alumni classes and 40 percent of his classmates attended the reunion.
He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1966-68.
