James S. Turley is an American business executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Ernst & Young from 2001 to 2013. He was the National President of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

from 2018 to 2019.

Early life and education

Turley received a B.A. and a M.A. in accounting from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universitie ...

Career

In 1977, Turley joined Ernst & Young in the US firm's Houston office and served as chairman and CEO from July 2001 to June 2013. Turley has co-chaired the Russia Foreign Investment Advisory Council and has served on the board of directors of

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi ( stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomera ...

, Emerson Electric, Intrexon, Northrop Grumman Corporation,

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the ...

, the National Corporate Theater Fund, and on the board of trustees of his alma mater,

. He has been a member of the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, B ...

, International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai and Transatlantic Business Dialogue. Turley was the chair of the governing board of the U.S.

Center for Audit Quality Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in 2007–2011. In 2010, he was appointed by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to the

President's Export Council The President's Export Council is an American government organization that serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The Council advises the President of government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade perfo ...

. In 2013, Turley was the 4th highest-rated CEO with an approval rating of 96% as calculated by Glassdoor.

Personal life

Turley is married to Lynne Pounds from Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. He and his wife have one adult son James "Jay" Stanton Turley Jr. Turley plays tennis and golf. Upon Turley's retirement,

’s Jones School announced the launch of the James S. Turley-Ernst & Young Leadership Development Initiative that focusses on accounting education. In conjunction with this, the university received a $2.5 million gift that includes $1 million from Turley, $500,000 from Ernst & Young and $1 million from Ernst & Young Rice alumni and various partner donations in honor of Turley.

Politics

In 2012, Turley was the first member of the

Executive Board to come out in public disapproval of its policy of excluding gays. The following year, the policy was reversed, allowing gay youths to join the organisation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turley, Jim Living people Rice University alumni American chief executives of financial services companies Year of birth missing (living people) Ernst & Young people Place of birth missing (living people) National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America