Texas Tech University

Scholarship Banquet

2016 Distinguished Alumni

Jon Fehleison

Jon Fehleison

Partner, KPMG
B.B.A. in Accounting,1979


Jon Fehleison received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Texas Tech in 1979, and joined the Dallas office of public accounting firm, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG), as a staff auditor. Nine years later, he accepted a three-year rotation in the firm's National Office in New York. He was promoted to partner at KPMG in 1990, and currently serves as a senior partner in the Practice Advisory/SEC Group, which is responsible for providing accounting, technical and SEC support throughout KPMG.

In 1997, Jon transferred to Hong Kong and was responsible for overseeing KPMG's U.S. Capital Markets Group in the Asia Pacific region. He served in that role until 2002, when he returned to the National Office in New York, ultimately becoming Co-Partner in Charge of the Practice Advisory/SEC Group from 2008 to 2016.

While with KPMG, Jon has served a variety of clients. However, he has primarily focused on SEC registrants in the manufacturing and information & communications industries. In particular, Jon has assisted numerous KPMG clients with initial public offerings and secondary offerings.

Jon has also taken a leadership role in the regulatory environment in which the firm operates. From 2003 to 2013, he was a member of the Center for Audit Quality SEC Regulations Committee's International Practices Task Force which meets periodically with the Staff of the SEC to discuss emerging technical accounting and reporting issues relating to SEC rules and regulations.

The School of Accounting in the Rawls College of Business is proud to claim Jon as an alumnus, and is grateful to him for providing an excellent role model for all accounting students and for demonstrating that "From Here, It's Possible."

James Fehleison

James Fehleison

Retired
B.B.A. in Accounting,1981

After earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Texas Tech in 1981, James Fehleison began his career in public accounting with the Dallas office of Ernst & Whinney (now EY). He passed the CPA exam that year, with a cumulative score ranking among the top 10 candidates in the state of Texas. He later joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG), before leaving public accounting for a career in the financial services industry.

James began his financial services career with the brokerage firm, Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, where he became Senior Vice-President/Controller, later moving to Fidelity Investments where he served as Vice-President, Finance. After Fidelity, he moved to First Southwest Company, taking a position as Chief Financial Officer. In 2000, James became the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Controller at AmeriCredit Corp, an automotive finance company.

Eight years later, James' expertise, developed over more than two decades in the financial services industry, proved to be invaluable as AmeriCredit successfully navigated its way through the 2008 financial crisis. The company was one of very few sub-prime auto financing companies to survive the crisis. Indeed, AmeriCredit emerged from the crisis in strong enough shape that it was acquired by General Motors in 2010, becoming GM Financial (GMF). James then led GMF's negotiations of the acquisition of the international auto finance operations of Ally. In 2012, James became Executive Vice- President-Integration, overseeing the integration of the Ally acquisition into GMF. He remained in that role until his retirement in 2014.

The School of Accounting in the Rawls College of Business is proud to claim James as an alumnus, and is grateful to him for providing an excellent role model for all accounting students and for demonstrating that “From Here, It's Possible.”

Event Photos

School of Accounting - 10.20.16

9.24.15 School of Accounting Dinner