Brantley Tilman Jolly

Brantley Tilman (Til) Jolly Jr, MD, of McLean, Virginia, passed away at home on April 7, 2025 at the age of 64. He will be remembered as a trusted friend, mentor, educator, and public servant.

Til could carry a conversation with anyone about sports, current events, history, emerging medical technologies, or tips for the most efficient grocery store run. The UNC basketball team was a particularly favorite topic. He was one of the best listeners and loved supporting everyone around him with his calm, infectious energy and quick wit. Everyone who knew him recognized the twinkle in his eye when he was about to make a funny comment or good joke. He was blessed with a gift of making people feel valued and included and could bring together disparate groups to work together for a common goal. Professionally, he was a leader who led others with a collaborative spirit and devotion to a mission–or a patient. His work was driven by the evidence. It was never "about him."

He and his wife Carolyn had four children whom he adored and talked about all the time. They both were and are so proud of the young adults they are becoming.

Til was born in Kinston, NC on November 25, 1960 and spent most of his childhood in Greenville, NC. He graduated from Rose High School, where he was an enthusiastic four-year member of the cross-country and golf teams, and had the honor of being the basketball team's play-by-play announcer for three years.

In 1979, Til was awarded a prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later earned his medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the combined George Washington/Georgetown University program, where he was a Chief Resident. He was board certified in Emergency Medicine and a practicing physician in the Washington, D.C. area for over 35 years, the majority of which was at INOVA Fairfax Hospital. Even while pursuing his broad array of professional interests, he continued to work shifts in a very busy emergency department and loved teaching those around him and caring for his patients. From 1996 on he was also a supervising physician for the advanced care providers in Yellowstone National Park during the summer season, some years on-site and others remotely by phone.

Til held several leadership positions in his early academic career at The George Washington University, including GW Hospital Associate Trauma Director, Research Director of the Emergency Department, and Vice-Chair of the Institutional Review Board.

Although he valued being a doctor to one patient at a time, he spent much of his career as a renowned expert on key issues related to public policy in health, traffic safety, and emergency preparedness. Due to his study of road traffic injuries and vehicle safety engineering in the 1990s, he was asked by the National Highway Safety Administration to convene and lead a working group of experts to provide recommendations relating to injuries caused by airbags. The resulting recommendations reassured the public that the benefits of airbags for adults outweighed the risks and lent evidence and effort to a national campaign to transport children in the rear seat.

Between 2002 and 2012, he worked with the National Football League as a member of the medical staff for eleven Super Bowls, overseeing coordination of emergency management, public health, and medical preparedness with various elements of the Department of Homeland Security, US Secret Service, and state and local responder agencies.

He was recruited to join the federal government in 2006 to help establish the office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Office of Health Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As Associate CMO and later Deputy CMO, Til led the DHS team in an interdepartmental working group that produced the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza in 2007. His team continued medical preparedness planning for various other biological and chemical threats to the U.S. population which led to his serving as Senior Science Advisor in the National Exercise Division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Following his time at DHS, Til became a valued private sector consultant on the intersection of medicine and emergency preparedness. During the pandemic, Til provided expertise to the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). He led the federal government's Telemedicine Work Group of the Health Care Resilience Task Force and assisted the COVID-19 response for multiple federal financial regulatory agencies and a major metropolitan school district. He was the featured speaker at a myriad of webinars and town halls, providing both straight talk and reassurance to thousands of staff with humor and compassion. Recently, he had been providing expertise in chemical hazards medical management for first responders and emergency department personnel.

Til was an early proponent of telehealth done right. In 2011 he joined the growing field as Chief Medical Officer at a large telehealth company where he shaped policy and the delivery of services. Later, he offered consulting services to smaller, mostly start-up telehealth companies as an advisor.

He led the medical advisory board for the Innovation Institute for the Fan Experience (IIFX), leveraging his own love of sports and experience working with the National Football League at Super Bowls XXXVI-XLVI, as well as representing the NFL in exercises related to terrorism and other threats.

Recently he co-founded and was the CEO of EMcentric, a networking and content sharing community that addresses the unique challenges of the emergency medicine community. As part of this, he hosted a publicly available podcast called The Shift Report and recorded over 35 episodes covering topics within wellness, innovation, and the business of emergency medicine. In his typical style, he referred to this pursuit as "a bunch of young, smart people making me look smart."

Til was a beloved community member, devoted youth basketball coach, and self-appointed doctor for his kids' many sports teams. He always greeted people with a friendly smile and took a few moments to say hello to everyone he knew, and he knew everybody. His network in his community and across the country was immense.

Golf was a passion of Til's for his whole life. He started playing at the age of five and made his second hole-in-one a few years ago. He loved playing interesting courses during his travels in addition to regular weekend competitive play with his golf group.

Til is survived by his beloved wife, Carolyn Jolly; daughters, Katherine (Katie) and Meredith Jolly; sons, Brantley (Brant) and Alexander (Alex) Jolly; sister and brother-in-law, Katrina and Leslie (Les) Garner; and mother-in-law, Mary Lou Williamson. He was preceded in death by his father, Brantley Tilman Jolly, and his mother, Myree Dunn Jolly Hayes. He will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him.

A memorial service for friends and family will be held at 11 a.m. on April 26 at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in McLean, VA, livestream will be available. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Fund at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, by mail via PO Box 690 Chapel Hill, NC 27514 or online at https://give.unc.edu/donate?p=MCFN, in memory of Til Jolly.