History

1950's1960's1970's1980's1990's2000's2010's2020's
  • 1953

    JAMA is Founded

    John A. “Jack” Martin, Sr. founded John A. Martin &...
  • 1956

    Fremont Hotel Completed

    The Fremont Hotel and Casino was completed. The project was...
  • 1965

    Estancia High School Completed

    Estancia High School in Newport Beach was completed. The project,...
  • 1970

    Ahmanson Center Completed

    The Ahmanson Center, also referred to as the Wilshire Colonnade,...
  • 1976

    Jack Martin Serves as SEAOSC President

    John A. “Jack” Martin served as President of the Structural...
  • 1976

    Trailer Martin Appointed to HBSB

    John A. “Trailer” Martin was appointed by the Director of...
  • 1981

    Trailer Martin Named President of JAMA

    John A. “Trailer” Martin assumed the role of President of...
  • 1984

    Research & Development Division Launches

    JAMA launched an in-house Research and Development Division with the...
  • 1985

    Cal Plaza Office Tower Completed

    Cal Plaza Office Tower in Los Angeles, California was completed....
  • 1987

    Fox Plaza Office Tower Completed

    Fox Plaza in Century City, California was completed. The 34-story,...
  • 1990

    JAMA Pin Program Established

    The ‘JAMA Pin’ program was established to acknowledge milestone employment...
  • 1995

    New Home at 1212 Flower Street

    JAMA relocated to 1212 Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles...
  • 1995

    JAMA on the Oklahoma Task Force

    JAMA was appointed to the Governor of Oklahoma’s Task Force...
  • 1998

    UCLA Royce Hall Upgrades Completed

    Seismic upgrades and renovation of the historic UCLA Royce Hall...
  • 2000

    JAMA Develops New Rigid Connection For Heavy Steel Beams and Columns

    JAMA staff, led by Farzad Naeim, Kan Patel and Kai-Chen...
  • 2003

    Disney Concert Hall Completed

    The 2,265-seat Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles was...
  • 2004

    Caltrans District 7 HQ Completed

    The Caltrans District 7 Headquarters was completed with Morphosis Architects....
  • 2004

    Jack Martin Honored By the AISC

    John A. “Jack” Martin was presented with the AISC Lifetime...
  • 2007

    New Home at the Federal Reserve Bank Building

    JAMA relocates to its current Southern California office location in...
  • 2007

    LA Live! Complex Completed

    The LA Live! Entertainment District and Nokia Theatre complex was...
  • 2011

    Saying Goodbye to Jack Martin

    JAMA mourned the loss of Jack Martin. Over an active...
  • 2012

    JAMA Receives SEAOSC Award for REFLEXX

    JAMA and partner Digitexx Data Systems received an Award of...
  • 2013

    LAX TBIT Expansion Completed

    The LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) Expansion was completed....
  • 2014

    ACE Mentor of the Year Award

    JAMA is honored by the ACE Mentor program as the...
  • 2017

    Kurt Clandening Named Managing Partner

    To transition the leadership of JAMA, Kurt Clandening, SE, was...
  • 2019

    Expansion Into Oakland

    JAMA’s Board unanimously voted in favor of expanding the firm’s...
  • 2022

    JAMA Joins the 2050 Challenge

    JAMA signs on to the Structural Engineers 2050 Challenge (SE...
  • 2023

    Celebrating 70 Years!

    JAMA celebrated the firm’s 70 anniversary at the recently completed...

John A. Martin & Associates, Inc. (JAMA) was founded in 1953 by John A. “Jack” Martin, Sr. Under his leadership the firm built a solid reputation for client service, technical excellence and a commitment to people. Although founded as a Los Angeles-based practice, JAMA quickly began delivering structural services beyond Southern California and even today operates as a dominant player on landmark projects within the Western United States.

 

John A. “Jack” Martin, Sr.

Work and notoriety grew rapidly for JAMA through the fifties and sixties setting the precendent for steel, long span truss, and concrete tower structures as a hallmark of JAMA’s extensive capabilities.

Fremont Hotel & Casino (1956), Estancia High School (1965), Ahmanson Center (1970)

In 1970 John A. “Trailer” Martin Jr. joined his father and continued to diversify the firm’s geographic reach and market capabilities, adding engineers licensed within all fifty states and Guam and Puerto Rico. Projects expanded throughout the United States and abroad in aviation, hospitality, convention centers, education, civic, healthcare, commercial and residential sectors.

John A. “Trailer” Martin Jr.

The 1980’s and 1990’s were a period of impressive growth and accomplishment, and firmly established JAMA’s mark on the skyline of Los Angeles.

Cal Plaza Office Tower (1985)

 

Fox Plaza (1987)

The millennium brought a technological shift at the firm with the full integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) into its design and production. Projects such as the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and MIT Stata Center brought programs such as AutoCAD, Catia, Rhino and Revit Structure into the forefront and helped steamline JAMA’s processes to visualize design opportunities, anticipate conflicts, and coordinate drawings and construction procedures. JAMA continues to be recognized as a leader in technology within the field.

Disney Concert Hall (2003)

MIT Stata Center (2004)

The present day has brought continued advancement and evolution at JAMA. In 2017 Trailer officially stepped down from day to day presidential operations of the firm, focusing on project design and our forensic and expert witness services division. A newly appointed Leadership Group, comprised of five Partner-level staff, now oversee the management, design and production of the firm. 2023 marked the firm’s 70th anniversary.

Orange County Museum of Art (2022)