The Numbers Add Up

There’s no arguing that Sheldon “Shel” Richman is a numbers guy. He was a tax partner at Deloitte, the professional services firm, for forty years.

For Shel, accounting was intellectually rewarding, and he learned about a variety of businesses up close. He met fascinating people and the job allowed him to see the world. It also provided a comfortable living for his family.

“We want others to have the educational opportunity to achieve professional results similar to mine,” notes Richman. “Our family is committed to the profession. My granddaughter is the fourth generation who has been licensed to practice public accounting in California. We appreciate the need to attract and educate qualified students who are the profession’s future.”

In 2007, with the support of his wife, Judy, and their four children, and with a matching fund from Deloitte, they started the Richman Family-Deloitte Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship in Accounting Endowed Fund at UCR.

“I personally thank Shel and Judy for helping the School of Business reach new levels of excellence,” says Yunzeng Wang, Dean of the UCR School of Business. “Their ongoing generosity is providing tremendous opportunity for local, deserving students to learn and grow in a nationally-ranked business program.”

One of this year’s recipients, first year student Carol Chang, shares the Richmans’ love of the profession: “My favorite part is that when I learn accounting, most of what I’m learning will be applicable at my first job.  Also, how simple it can be; like when I first learned about assets = liabilities + equity, it was actually straight forward how assets would be what the individual or company owns, liabilities would be what they owe to others, and equity would be subtracting assets from liabilities.  I enjoy working with numbers.”

If the good vibes that come with helping a young person toward their career goals isn’t enough, Shel Richman does have a bit of extra advice for would-be donors: the gifts to establish a scholarship are tax deductible.