A shuttle picked us up from the train in Chappaqua, N.Y. The driver was intent on getting us to the retreat center, racing through several small upper N.Y. townships a tad too fast. It was the opening of the Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy Retreat run by Resource Generation, and to the driver it was obviously not to be missed. Along the empty tree-lined streets, we passed only one solitary figure trundling along the edge of the half-paved road. That brief glimpse was my...

Mathematics professor Richard Semmler works two jobs in addition to his post at Northern Virginia Community College so that he can give away up to $60,000 each year to charity, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
For the last 10 years, he has also volunteered regularly with the organizations he supports and lives modesty to support his big-giver lifestyle.