From 1860 to 1861 he taught natural sciences at the Providence Conference Seminary, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, followed by a teaching position at the Delaware Literary Institute in Franklin, New York until 1867.

After a short time teaching at Iowa Agricultural College, he became professor of physics at the freshly founded Cornell University, where he held a position for fifteen years (1872–1887).

[3] He was the president of the AIEE from 1890-1,[4] and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[5] Though primarily a teacher, Anthony invested some time in research and development.

[6] He installed this generator in the basement of McGraw Hall, from which it which powered two electric arc lamps, one of which was located in the tower of Sage Chapel.

[6] In 1884 Anthony constructed a colossal galvanometer, two meters in diameter, capable of measuring currents up to 250 amps "with a precision hitherto unattained.