Richard (Rick) K. Gaumer brings more than 25 years of private-sector financial leadership experience and more than 35 years of teaching and higher education experience. His specialty is helping financially challenged and struggling higher education institutions become stronger, more financially sustainable, and better positioned for long-term success. He is also a principal in Academic Innovators, a firm dedicated to finding and deploying best-practice solutions in higher education.

Mr. Gaumer served as Vice President of Business and Finance (CFO) at Emory & Henry College from 2014–2018. During his tenure, he negotiated and secured a $51 million USDA program loan at 2.375% fixed interest over 40 years, refinancing more than $35 million of existing debt and financing a new housing complex. He also applied his experience in ROI, strategic planning, and operational execution to develop and launch new affinity programs, including a Marching Band program that brought more than 100 new students to the college in its first three years. He was a 2017 nominee for Virginia Business magazine’s prestigious CFO of the Year award.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Gaumer spent more than 11 years with Kohler Co. in various financial leadership positions, including divisional controllership. During that time, he gained extensive experience in strategic planning, operational execution, ROI, and maximizing scarce resources while helping support the company’s transformation into a global plumbing manufacturing company. He later served as CFO of Strategic Data Systems (SDS), which grew into a national leader in custom software systems for the property and casualty insurance industry.

Mr. Gaumer also brings extensive experience as an educator and curriculum innovator. He taught full-time at Lakeland University for 13 years, earning tenure and the Underkofler Outstanding Teaching Award. His work in curriculum development included establishing a forensic accounting concentration, launching a large VITA student income tax program, and developing CPA and CMA examination preparation courses. Under his leadership, Lakeland students achieved nationally recognized results on the CPA and CMA examinations, including a student who received the national Elijah Watts Sells Award for one of the top 20 scores on the 2011 CPA exam.

He has taught finance, accounting, information systems, and leadership to adult, online, and traditional students and has served on numerous civic and advisory boards. He currently serves as a Trustee for Waldorf University and Lakeland University.