Biography

Lisa Kessler joined American Public University System (APUS) as Vice President and Controller in December 2003. A summa cum laude graduate of Mount Saint Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, Ms. Kessler holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting.

Ms. Kessler has 25 years experience in financial management. She spent the first seven years of her career as a Consultant and Accountant with Wolpoff & Co., a Baltimore-based Public Accounting firm specializing in healthcare and real estate. After achieving the level of Manager, she became the Controller for a group of nursing centers and later became a Regional Director of Operations and Director of Finance for HCR/ManorCare, one of the nation's largest nursing care providers. In addition, Ms. Kessler served as Manor Care's Rehab Controller where she was responsible for budgeting and reimbursement oversight for nearly 200 skilled nursing facilities and 10 assisted living centers. In that capacity, she chaired committees on the PPS Task Force and was instrumental in the successful transition of the company to prospective payment, a new form of Medicare reimbursement. Most recently, Ms. Kessler was a Senior Vice President of Operations and Finance for Capella Senior Living, a company devoted to acquiring and restructuring nursing facilities to stable operations, post-bankruptcy.