The bottom line for Turley is having the best people deliver the best products to the marketplace and, in the process, create a growing, sustaining organization. “Ernst & Young,” he notes, “has a culture that celebrates people who respect one another, who have high integrity, and who place teamwork high in their priorities.”

Turley’s commitments at the Ernst & Young Houston office and his service on the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Council of Overseers frequently bring him back to Houston. “Unlike most places, when I get to Houston, I rent a car,” Turley says. “I like to visit the campus. I have great memories, especially of how involved and available the faculty was, both inside and outside of class.”

Turley realized early on that he was not just taught accounting rules at Rice but how to think about those rules, to understand why they exist, and to apply them in different circumstances. With all the changes taking place in his profession and the great changes he has seen in business over the past few years, he is reminded often of why those early lessons were so important.