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| The Ellis kiddos |
Ryan Ellis recently joined the UVA Finance team as manager of accounts payable, bringing a wealth of experience from the nonprofit sector to his first role in higher education. Ellis's journey into the world of finance and accounting began with a foray into business and marketing at California State University San Marcos. Although he initially found accounting too dry; he soon discovered he enjoyed accounts payable.
“I’ve always been drawn to the checks and balances of accounting,” Ellis shares. “But what really excites me is the customer support aspect. It’s about organizing information in a way that makes sense to non-accountants and ensuring we’re taking care of our relationships, whether that’s with suppliers or internal teams.”
Ellis has held finance roles at Foothills Child Advocacy and the Southern Environmental Law Center, and has served on the board of Meals on Wheels. His previous roles allowed him to see firsthand how close-knit and connected communities can be, a sentiment he feels UVA embodies as well.
“Charlottesville is a place where everyone wants to work at UVA,” he comments. “It’s a huge institution, deeply rooted in the city’s identity, and it has the same sense of community that I loved about nonprofits. But in smaller nonprofits, you can sometimes feel stuck. I was ready to expand my skills, start managing a team, and share my insights with others who want to grow.”
Though he’s only been in his role at UVA for a week, Ellis is already diving into new projects, including the OCR tool implementation. “My focus right now is ensuring invoices are paid on time, ideally in less than a week,” he explains. “It’s about making it easier for suppliers to see where they stand from purchase to pay."
Ellis’s path to UVA was a winding one. Born in Germany to a military family, he spent his childhood moving across the U.S., eventually settling in California (but enjoying visiting relatives in Virginia).
Outside of work, Ellis is an avid outdoorsman with a particular love for national parks. “We’re national parks pass holders and have done cross-country tours to visit them,” he says. “We even got married in Yosemite!” His wife, Mary, a librarian at Northside Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, shares his love for the arts and the outdoors. Together with their three children—Scout (13), Pip (7), and Sunny (1)—and their beagle, Rufio, they enjoy the natural beauty of the East Coast, from skate parks to beaches.
Ellis's enthusiasm for trying new things extends into the kitchen, where he’s always hunting for new recipes and seasonal ingredients. He’s even planning to enter his perfected fried chicken recipe into the Fried Chicken Festival in Gordonsville this year.