Laura Dunn Jolly (born 1955) is an American academic administrator. Laura Dunn was born in

Belzoni, Mississippi Belzoni ( ) is a city in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta region, on the Yazoo River. The population was 2,235 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Humphreys County. It was named for the 19th-centur ...

, and raised alongside two siblings in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

region. Her father was a postal worker, and her mother was a county extension agent and educator at the high school and community college levels. Dunn later married

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Ce ...

native David Jolly, with whom she raised two children. After completing her bachelor's degree in home economics at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, Jolly earned master's and doctoral degrees in clothing, textiles, and merchandising at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in 1979 and 1983, respectively. She has taught at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville,

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, and Oklahoma State. In 2001, Jolly joined the faculty of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, where she held the chair of interior design, merchandising and textiles for six years. In 2007, she moved to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. During her tenure at UGA, Jolly served three years as dean and associate director of cooperative extension and experiment station in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and five years as vice president for instruction. In 2016, Jolly succeeded Pamela White as dean of the

Iowa State University College of Human Sciences Iowa State University's College of Human Sciences was established in 2005, as the result of a merger of the now defunct College of Education and College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and therefore, is currently the newest college of Iowa Stat ...

, where she concurrently holds a Dean's Chair. Jolly was reappointed to the deanship in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Laura 1955 births University of Kentucky faculty University of Tennessee faculty Women deans (academic) Iowa State University faculty Living people American university and college faculty deans Oklahoma State University alumni University of Georgia faculty Oklahoma State University faculty Texas Tech University faculty University of Mississippi alumni American women academics People from Belzoni, Mississippi