History - 2005 Speaker
Jeffrey H. SmulyanChairman of the Board
Emmis Communications Corporation
Jeffrey H. Smulyan, 56, serves as Chairman of the Board of Emmis Communications Corporation, an Indianapolis–based radio, TV and magazine publishing company with operations in 24 U.S. markets and Hungary and Belgium. A cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California with a B.A. in History and Telecommunications, Smulyan earned a Juris Doctor degree from USC School of Law, where he served as note and comment editor of the USC Law Review.
After operating two radio stations – WNTS in Indianapolis and KCRO in Omaha - Smulyan formed and became principal shareholder of Emmis in 1980. A public company since 1994, Emmis owns and operates 23 FM and 4 AM radio stations in the nation’s largest markets; 16 television stations; six local, regional and national magazine operations; and the No. 1 radio network in Hungary and nine radio stations in the Flanders region of Belgium. In 1995 Emmis became the first company to own top-rated stations in New York and Los Angeles simultaneously.A director of the National Association of Broadcasters and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Radio Advertising Bureau, Smulyan serves as past chair of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, a consortium of CEOs from central Indiana’s largest corporations, sits on the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California and the Board of Directors of Finish Line, Inc., an athletic apparel company. He is a member of the American, Indiana and Federal Communications bar associations, and has served on numerous civic boards and committees. As principal shareholder, he led a group that purchased the Seattle Mariners baseball team in 1989, selling the club three years later. During that time, Smulyan served on the Major League Baseball owner's Ownership AND Television committees.
