Brian Jemelian provided two decades of distinguished service to Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) and leadership as the company’s senior vice president, finance and administration. He died on July 7 in Irvine, California after a brief illness, at the age of 53.
Jemelian led the finance, information technology, operations, human resources, logistics, legal, tax and credit teams at YCA since joining the Buena Park, California-based company in March of 1996.
Among his many accomplishments at Yamaha were leading the company’s Business Continuity Project, Process Excellence Project and risk management strategies, as well as driving One Yamaha organization changes over the last decade. He also served as Secretary for the company, as well as on the Board of Directors for Line 6, Inc., and the Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute.
“Brian was an extraordinary business leader, as well as an exceptional husband and father to his three daughters. Speaking on behalf of Yamaha, I want to express our most sincere sympathies to his family during this difficult time,” said Hitoshi Fukutome, president, Yamaha Corporation of America. “There are no words for how Brian influenced Yamaha and so many of our employees in such a special and unique way. His vast contributions to Yamaha over the past 20 years have been key to our growth, and his legacy will have a positive impact on everyone whose lives he touched for many years to come.”
Jemelian joined Yamaha in 1996 as Corporate Controller/General Manager, Finance division. He was promoted to Vice President, Finance & Regulatory in 2000, Corporate Vice President, Finance & Administration in 2003 and finally to Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration in 2007.
Prior to Yamaha, Jemelian was a Senior Manager in Audit and Business Advisory Services at Price Waterhouse in the Orange County, Los Angeles and London offices. His industry focus included financial services, retail and distribution, for clients that included Reuters, First American, Bank of England, Lloyds Bank, Time Warner, Bain Capital, Toyota, L.A. Gear and Yamaha.
Jemelian graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and from the University of Southern California with a Master of Accounting degree. He was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California Society of CPA’s. He also mentored MBA students at the UC Irvine Merage School of Business.
Jemelian is survived by his wife, Pam and three daughters, Tonya, Alisha and Julia.
