Jeffrey H. Smulyan serves as founder, CEO, and chairman of the board of Emmis Communications Corporation, an Indianapolis-based publicly traded diversified media company. A cum laude graduate of USC with a BA in history and telecommunications, Jeff earned a JD from the USC Gould School of Law, where he served as note and comment editor of the Southern California Law Review. He has served on the USC Board of Trustees since 2001.

Jeff is a former director of the National Association of Broadcasters, and a member of numerous civic boards and committees. As principal shareholder, he led a group that purchased the Seattle Mariners baseball team in 1989. In 1994, Jeff was named by the White House to head the U.S. Delegation to the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunications Union. Smulyan resides in suburban Indianapolis with his wife Heather; he has three children--Samantha, Cari, and Bradley--and two grandchildren.