(Left to right) Professor Henry “Hank” Koffman, Jonathan Emami and USC Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos (Photo/Courtesy of USC Viterbi)
In the spring of 2024, Jonathan Emami, MCM ’06, had lunch at Moreton Fig on the USC campus with his mentor Henry “Hank” Koffman, longtime director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Construction Management Program. Emami, president and founder of JEMCOR Development Partners, a thriving Bay Area developer and builder of affordable and mixed-income apartments, updated Koffman on his business and plans for future growth.
Koffman, himself a successful real estate developer, listened intently to his former student. Then he spoke. “You can burn yourself out if you’re not careful,” Koffman told Emami. “I have a few ideas for improvement.”
Emami, now 41, had every reason to trust Koffman, his former academic adviser and professor. When Emami matriculated at USC Viterbi as a new master’s student in 2004, Koffman counseled Emami to branch out and take certain business and real estate courses that he thought would benefit him more than the standard construction management curriculum. Koffman even helped Emami secure the needed approvals to make it happen.
Over the years, Emami and Koffman have stayed in touch, developing a close relationship based on trust and mutual respect. They exchange phone calls often and meet in person several times a year when Emami is in Southern California or Koffman visiting the San Francisco Bay Area. “He’s someone I admire greatly and definitely look up to,” Emami said.
Koffman and USC, Emami said, gave him a strong foundation for his professional success. As an expression of his gratitude, in 2020 Emami created the Emami Family Endowed Fellowship to help students pursing a Master of Construction Management degree, and, in 2021, he established the Jonathan Emami Construction Management Endowed Fund to support new initiatives, students and curriculum.
Now, Emami – a member of the USC Viterbi Board of Councilors and the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board – has made a substantial gift to name the USC Construction Management Program and create the Emami Construction Management Institute.
“Jonathan Emami stepped up to help strengthen the remarkable Construction Management Program in our Astani Department. This wonderful gift will elevate the quality and impact of the program, attract talented new students and faculty and have a long-term positive effect in our engineering world,” USC Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos said.
As part of this gift, Emami is also naming a chair in Professor Koffman’s honor: The Henry M. Koffman Endowed Chair in Construction Management. In this way, the Henry M. Koffman name will live on, with the named chair enabling the Construction Management Program to continue to hire and retain exceptional faculty.
“This was so unexpected. I’m jubilant. I can’t tell you what an honor and thrill this is,” said Koffman, who has served as program director for 33 years. “Jonathan’s just a showcase for our program and for all our students. I’m so proud of him.”
Connecting the dots
Emami looks back fondly at his time at USC. Becoming part of the Trojan Family, he said, changed his life. “It connected some dots, gave me confidence, and laid the groundwork for my career.”
He values the education he received at USC so much that Emami kept all his notes and books from his student days. Even now, he still occasionally refers to them for answers or for a feeling of nostalgia. “Much of what we studied then is just as relevant today,” Emami said.
Emami has flourished since leaving Troy.
After working in the real estate development business for nearly a decade, Emami founded JEMCOR in 2015. Since then, his vertically integrated development and construction company has built several thousand apartment units in the Bay Area, mostly in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Over the summer, JEMCOR delivered a 249-unit project in Morgan Hill and is currently nearing completion on a 271-unit project in San Jose. Last year, the company secured financing and started construction on a new 300-unit project in San Jose and another 341-unit project in San Bruno.
The company focuses on the development and construction of affordable and mixed-income apartment communities that offer rents at below market rates. JEMCOR acquires land, secures the entitlements and the financing to build such apartments, which in turn make housing possible for many who would otherwise have very few options to live in the exorbitantly high priced Bay Area.
Emami said his work brings him immense satisfaction. “Every week I spend a day in the field visiting projects that are currently under construction. I love seeing the activity, seeing the workers, and just seeing the engine of construction moving,” he said. “It feels really great knowing we will be providing housing to a specific market where it’s really needed.”
An inspiration
Emami wants his gift to take the Construction Management Program to the next level of excellence, allowing it to grow at the graduate and undergraduate level, hire new faculty and have the resources to “ramp up.” He would also like to see new partnerships formed with other programs, especially with real estate, as it goes hand in hand with construction.
Equally important, Emami hopes his support will inspire others to give back, however they can.
“If you can give in any way, whether that’s your time, knowledge or financial resources, I think it’s important to help,” he said. “Why not? Making a measurable impact makes you feel great.”
Published on February 25th, 2025
Last updated on February 25th, 2025
