UMKC - The Bloch School

Randy Gardner (Program Director), JD, LLM, MBA, CPA, CFP^® has taught as a Professor of Tax and Financial Planning at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for 27 years.  He has worked as a tax, financial, and estate planning professional for over 30 years.

Randy earned his Juris Doctorate and MBA from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Harvard University.  He has taught over thirty CFP^® Certification Examination Reviews nationally and is a former member of the CFP^® Council on Examinations (formerly the Board of Examiners). Randy is co-author of the books 101 Tax Saving Ideas and Tools and Techniques of Income Tax Planning, and co-editor of Wealth Counsel Estate Planning Strategies. He also writes and speaks regularly about developments in financial planning, and is a member of the Editorial Board of The Journal of Financial Planning.  

 Randy can be reached by phone at 816-916-8844 or by email at gardnerjr@umkc.edu.

John M. Clark, Ph.D., CFA, CFP® is currently an Associate Professor of Finance at the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Prior to this appointment he served as the Director of the Center for Financial Services and as an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Southern Mississippi. He earned a Ph.D. in Finance from The University of Alabama in 1997. In addition, he earned both his Masters of Arts and undergraduate degrees from The University of Alabama. He became a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) in 1999 and a Certified Financial Planner in 2002. While at USM, he was the founding Director of the CFP Board approved, financial planning degree program and supervised the student investment fund. Teaching interests included investments and derivative securities. His research activities involve developing applied models in portfolio management, financial planning, financial risk management, and structured debt instruments. John has served as a financial consultant for several firms. He has served as a member of the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation Investment Committee and on the Board of Experts for PassPro for the CFA. He has taught exam prep courses for the CFA and CFP exams and continuing education seminars for the USM Foundation, The Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, the Kansas City Board of Trade, the Missouri Society of Enrolled Agents, the Missouri Society of CPA’s, the Kansas Society of CPA’s, The Garrett Financial Planning Network, and Financial Planning Workshops, Inc.

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