A professional with broad experience in academic finance across areas of Yale University and Rutgers University will be the next vice president for finance and business affairs at Fresno Pacific University.
Anthony Gardner, MBA, is set to begin work February 10, 2025. He comes to FPU from Yale University, where he is director of financial management for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. He replaces Robert Lippert, who retired this fall after joining FPU in 2014.
“I look forward to Anthony’s energizing presence on the President’s Cabinet and throughout the Fresno Pacific community as he joins us in the meaningful work taking place. I am excited to see the ways Anthony will serve FPU through his professional expertise, personal gifts and faith,” said André Stephens, Ph.D., FPU president.
Before joining Yale, Gardner spent nearly a decade at the main campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick. His roles included director of finance in the School of Arts and Sciences, program administrator/business manager in the Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, acting business manager for the Brain Health Institute and assistant director of business service/business manager II supervisor in the School of Social Work. Gardner is also founder and president of South Jersey Tax Professionals LLC, and has private-industry experience.
Among Gardner’s professional achievements are overseeing a budget of over $500 million for the School of Arts and Sciences, the largest academic unit at Rutgers, as well as restructuring and revamping financial tools and teams and creating standardized operating procedures. He also supervised federal, state and internal audits.
These previous roles have prepared him for FPU, Gardner said. “I obtained a solid foundation in university financial systems, built key relationships across the university for cross-functional work, learned about hard science-based research and gained valuable budgetary experience. I am really excited to join President Stephens and the wonderful team at Fresno Pacific.”
Gardner earned an MBA with a concentration in finance from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers. He is on track to complete an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Arizona in 2026. He and wife Ermoine have one son.