J. Gerard “Jerry” Jolly

J. Gerard “Jerry” Jolly, CPA, of Baton Rouge, La., is an alumnus of LSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and was later inducted into the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction. Jolly is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy. 

Since retiring as a KPMG LLP partner in 2012, Jolly works as a sole proprietor in a tax and consulting practice. His practice focuses on private companies and their owners, particularly in the areas of strategic and succession planning, governance, estate planning, philanthropy, and overall tax planning. He previously served on the Board and as Audit Committee Chair of PetroQuest Energy, Inc. and on the Board of LSI Consulting (a private technology consulting business).

During his 38 years at KPMG, Jolly worked in the Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Houston practices. He was promoted to partner in 1981 and served in various executive capacities and leadership roles.

From 2007-12, Jolly served on the KPMG LLP Board of Directors and, from 2009-12, on the KPMG Americas LLP Board of Directors. During his tenure on the KPMG Board, he chaired the Audit, Finance and Operations Committee and the Nominating Committee. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Board and the Compensation Committee.

From 2006-12, Jolly served as National Managing Partner of KPMG’s mid-market business. In that role, he was responsible for developing strategy and resources to drive growth in KPMG’s mid-market business segment in the U.S. and globally, which was a significant driver of KPMG’s growth during that period. 

Earlier in his career, Jolly held various other positions, including managing partner of the Baton Rouge office, Houston region tax leader, and market development leader for Consumer and Industrial Markets in the Houston region. In 2006, he chaired the committee that developed a long-term strategy for the KPMG Tax Practice and served on the committee that developed the overall firm strategy.

Throughout his career, Jolly served both Fortune 1000 and mid-market public and private companies and their executives and owners as the lead client service partner and tax partner. He has significant experience in assisting growing companies on acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, public offerings, and sales to strategic and financial buyers. He also served both mid-market private equity companies and venture capital investors. He was the lead instructor for several of KPMG’s national training programs.

Jolly currently serves on the LSU Foundation National Board and on the Executive Committee of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business. He is a board member and past chair of the Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation, past chair of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and current chair of the Mary Bird Perkins Foundation Board. He is secretary/treasurer of the Boards of the Water Institute of the Gulf and New Schools of Baton Rouge Facilities, Inc. He is chairman of the Board of the Catholic High School Foundation and member of the Boards the Newton G. Thomas Foundation and the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation. He is past president and current member of the Estate and Business Planning Council of Baton Rouge and a member of the Baton Rouge Rotary Club.