Sharing His Leadership Journey, Semmel Says Thank You and Farewell

July 3, 2025

Over the last 15 years, there have been many occasions on which Director Ralph Semmel has spoken directly to APL staff members. From important Laboratory updates, to strategy presentations and fostering conversation and community, Semmel has covered a lot. But perhaps no presentation was as personal as the outgoing director’s final address. Recounting a leadership journey that took him from kindergarten through nearly 40 years at APL, Semmel sat on the Kossiakoff Center stage on June 24 for his last address as director and told a story that was all his own.

Beginning by thanking his wife and colleagues, he then turned to the audience — which included a full auditorium and thousands in remote viewing locations across APL. “Most importantly, I want to thank the staff,” he said, pausing with visible emotion to collect his thoughts. “Because anything I have achieved — and I have received a lot of accolades in the last few months — is because of you. I have realized I am only the figurehead who is representing you.”

Over 90 minutes, recalling time at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and service as an Army officer, to short stints at MITRE and Wang, through climbing the ranks at APL, Semmel told of promotions and pay cuts, hard decisions and surprising turns. He talked about experiences that shaped his personal values — integrity, trust, risk-taking and principled ambition with a side of healthy doubt — beliefs that are clearly reflected in APL’s Core Values.

Noting the many changes during his 15 years of leading APL — the second-longest tenure for an APL director — Semmel stressed that the organization must remain agile and committed to its role as a trusted partner to its sponsors, no matter the current events.

“Consistent with our vision, we must be relentlessly focused on making critical contributions to our nation and creating defining innovations,” he said. “We must always seek to deliver game-changing impact.”

While sharing that he never intended to follow the path to management and leadership at APL, Semmel also shared that being open to opportunity has been a hallmark of his career. His personal leadership philosophy begins with “a bedrock of integrity” that leads to trusting one another, which enables respectful debate and a subsequent commitment to the decisions made, even for those who may not have personally agreed with those decisions. Accountability and being part of the team are also essential ingredients.

At times funny, at others deeply reflective, Semmel noted that he has “lived the American dream.” He shared how over the decades, he has refined how he leads and how he communicates. And strategically placed throughout his story were 10 lessons on leadership he shared with the staff:

1. You can control your future, but only if you choose to.
2. You can learn as much from bad as from good, but you have to be open enough to see how “good” bad can be.
3. You can compromise five days per week to be happy the other two, but it takes seven days per week to change the world.
4. Integrity can be given away, but once lost, it is nowhere to be found.
5. Your people want you to be a great leader, but their greatness must always come first.
6. The transition to senior leadership provides great opportunities, but only if you embrace greater risks and higher stakes.
7. Doing the right thing is hard, but not doing the right thing is unforgivable.
8. Straying from the traditional path is not traditional, but it gives you a unique opportunity to create new traditions.
9. You can change a piece of the world, but you must overcome powerful forces that would have you conform.
10. Be bold, do great things, make the world a better place.

Semmel added a note to that last, familiar lesson. “We can achieve this while being kind and respectful,” he said. “And that is my journey.”