Bernard H. Semler

1917 - 2011

Mr. Bernard H. Semler, a respected and admired, long-time leader of the business community, passed away on August 24, 2011 in Lake Forest, Ill. with his family at his side. He was 94 years old. His long and distinguished career reached its apogee in his years as chief financial officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Abbott Laboratories, a period of remarkable success recounted in Jim Collins business best-seller, Good to Great. Mr. Semler was born and raised in Winona, Minn. where he worked his way through St. Mary's College as part-time bookkeeper and graduated Suma Cum Laude with honors in the Class of 1938. He began his full-time work experience as Grain Bookkeeper at the J. D. Dill Company in Wabasha, Minn. where he spent his spare time completing the higher Accountancy correspondence courses of La Salle Extension University in preparation for taking the CPA examination. It was in Wabasha where he met and married Mary Ann Fitzgerald in 1940. In 1941 he joined the staff of Scovell, Wellington & Company, Public Accountants in Chicago and successfully passed the CPA examination in the fall of that year. He assumed increasing responsibility for the management of audits and other client services, including being in charge of the audit of the University of Chicago, where he was also responsible for determining the overhead to be paid to the University under the Manhattan District (atomic bomb) project. He entered military service in 1945 and by a strange set of circumstances continued this connection to the Manhattan Project when he was assigned to head up an audit function at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. After completing his military service he resumed his responsibilities at Scovell Wellington. Wishing to play a greater role in the decision making process, in 1949 he became assistant corporate controller at Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J. In 1955, to further expand his management experience he became executive vice president of Freeman Shoe Company in Beloit, Wis. In 1960, he joined Hunt Foods & Industries, Fullerton California as vice president and CFO where he covered the financial responsibilities for the divisionalization of the company. In 1969 he joined Abbott Laboratories as vice president and CFO, and again covered the financial responsibilities for the divisionalization of the company. As the vice president of finance, Semler held responsibility for the worldwide financial activities of the company. In 1975 he was named executive vice president and joined the board of directors until his retirement in 1982. In the late 60s, Mr. Semler was the driving force behind the system of "Responsibility Accounting" instituted at Abbott, assigning every item of cost, income and investment to a single individual. In "Good to Great" Jim Collins credits much of Abbott's explosive growth during the '70s to the entrepreneurial energy this system helped unleash. "Bernie Semler was a remarkably creative and effective executive," said Miles D. White, Chairman and CEO, Abbott. "It's unusual for a single individual to have such an effect on an organization, but Bernie's innovative system of 'Responsibility Accounting' changed the way Abbott worked, and helped take its performance to a new level." Following his retirement from Abbott he served as a consultant and director for several companies, including Atcor and Allied Tube in Harvey, Ill., and Amgen Inc. (the world's largest biotech company), in Thousand Oaks, Calif. where he was also chairman of the Audit and Compensation Committees until his retirement in 1996. Mr. Semler also served as a member of the board of directors of The First National Bank, Lake Forest, Ill.; the Northern Trust Co., Lake Forest, Ill.; The Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest, Ill.; The Clara Abbott Foundation, and The Springs Club, Rancho Mirage, Calif., where he also served as president in 1996. In 1966 he received the St. Mary's College Commerce Club Alumni Achievement Award and, in 1984, was presented the College's National Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award "in recognition of achievement and distinguished career in corporate finance and his notable contributions to the accounting profession." He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary (Fitzgerald); their three children, Sharon (Mac) McGregor of Allen, Texas, Tom (Livy) of Mishawaka, Ind., and Bruce (Patti) of Big Fork, Mont.; eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. A Mass celebrating Mr. Semler's life was held at St. Patrick Church, Lake Forest, IL, with Reverend Laurence J. Dunn officiating.