Clemson names new executive vice president for finance and operations

CLEMSON, South Carolina – Clemson University today announced that Anthony E. Wagner, currently executive vice president for finance at Augusta University and the affiliated Augusta University Health System, will become executive vice president for finance and operations at Clemson effective Feb. 1, 2019.

Wagner brings two decades of higher education experience to the role – including 11 years as the top finance executive at two universities. He succeeds Brett Dalton, who left Clemson at the end of June to accept a similar role at Baylor University.

Wagner, 58, was selected from among a national pool of candidates. He will report to Clemson University President James P. Clements and serve on the university’s Executive Leadership Team. In addition to serving as the university’s chief financial officer, Wagner will oversee a large administrative organization that includes Clemson’s finance, human resources and facilities-related operations.

“Tony rose to the top of an extremely competitive field of candidates as a result of his deep experience and demonstrated success in higher education,” Clements said. “His work in helping to shape large, complex institutions and his reputation as a collaborative, team-oriented leader make him especially well-suited to assume this role, which is vital to Clemson’s ongoing success. We are excited to welcome Tony and his wife Lisa to the Clemson Family.”

Wagner joined Augusta University in mid-2013 and played a leading role in ensuring the successful launch of the recently merged university, which was formed in 2013 with the combination of the former Georgia Health Sciences University and Augusta State University. Today, Augusta University is home to nearly 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students as well as the Medical College of Georgia, the eighth-largest medical school in the country.

Prior to joining Augusta, Wagner served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Temple University, a large state-related university in Philadelphia, from 2007-2013. While there, he oversaw the financing of more than $1 billion in university capital projects.

Wagner also spent nearly a decade in leadership roles at Penn State University from 1995 to 2005, working in government relations and finance-related roles. In addition to his higher education experience, Wagner has significant government service in Pennsylvania, including serving as deputy secretary of the budget in 2003-2004 while on leave from Penn State and deputy state treasurer from 2005 to 2007.

“I am beyond  thrilled to be joining one of the finest public universities in the country at such an exciting time in its history,” Wagner said. “Clemson’s land-grant service mission is consistent with my passion for helping people change their lives through education, and I look forward to working closely with President Clements and the Executive Leadership team to help make a difference for South Carolinians.”

Wagner, a native of  Franklin County, Pennsylvania, earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn State and his master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Temple. He also served as a deep-sea diver in the U.S. Navy for four years.

Wagner’s wife, Lisa Ruggiero Wagner, is a faculty member at Augusta University, where she teaches anatomy and physiology. They have two grown sons: Tyler, an attorney; and Jesse, a first-year medical student. Wagner also has been an ordained permanent deacon of the Catholic Church since 2000.