With piercing blue eyes that exude intelligence, a warm smile and the lanky build of a former athlete, Henry “Hank” Koffman looks every bit the distinguished academic and successful former real estate developer that he is.

For the past 33 years, the USC Viterbi alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering has directed USC Viterbi’s Construction Management Program. Now, thanks to a generous gift from his former student, Jonathan Emami, MCM ’06, the program will become even better, with plans to add new faculty, students, seminars and even an institute. Emami, a successful real estate developer, also named a chair in his mentor’s honor: The Henry M. Koffman Endowed Chair in Construction Management.

“Hank’s leadership has brought real-world relevance to the program.” said Burçin Becerik-Gerber, chair of the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “He brings warmth, humility and a tireless work ethic that inspire everyone around him.”

Life is good for Koffman. He has been married to the same woman for over six decades, has three successful children, three grandchildren, a house in Brentwood, and degrees from USC and Stanford. “So many marvelous things have occurred in my lifetime,” Koffman said. “I’ve just been very, very lucky.”

Indeed, he has. But Koffman wasn’t always a pillar of the community. As a young man, his father abandoned his family, leaving him angry, confused and feckless. The Jewish Koffman found solace in the unlikeliest of places: a Latino gang. For a few years, it seemed far more likely that he would end up in juvenile hall than in college. But fate intervened, in the form of a scholarship to USC.

After his father’s sudden departure, 11-year-old Koffman drifted, eventually joining a gang at Bancroft Junior High School in Hollywood. “Maybe I related to them because they all had difficult childhoods,” he said, adding that they ate together, socialized together and even fought together. (“Nothing real serious,” Koffman remembered. “I got bloodied, but I never ended up in the hospital.”)

Koffman’s gangster days ended when he attended Fairfax High School, and the other members went to Hollywood High. At Fairfax, Koffman played basketball, ran track and served as president of a social club. He shined in everything but academics. Still, his mother encouraged him to apply for a full-tuition scholarship, sponsored by a local Caterpillar dealer, to study civil engineering at USC.

After three rounds of interviews, the affable Koffman somehow landed the scholarship, even though he had a 2.2 GPA. None of the interviewers had bothered to ask him about his grades. Koffman hadn’t even taken the SAT. In time, he found himself begging Robert Vivian, then dean of USC Engineering, to let him in. Vivian relented after Koffman took the SAT at the last possible moment and scored well in math, forever changing the young man’s trajectory.

“I felt I had pulled off a miracle, and I didn’t want to blow it,” Koffman said. “I became a very serious student, graduated second in my class and later earned a master’s degree at Stanford in civil engineering on a full-tuition fellowship.”

After Stanford, Koffman moved back to Los Angeles and became one of the first project managers for the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. He later worked for a real estate development company before starting and overseeing his own successful construction business for 15 years.

Koffman made such a name for himself that the founders of USC Viterbi’s Construction Management Program asked him to be an instructor when the program launched in 1978. Koffman turned the offer down because of his startup business obligations, but 15 years later he began his teaching career and was soon named the program’s director. Koffman said he gave up his real estate career to “give back” to USC for having given him the tremendous opportunity that launched his successful career.

These days, Koffman still finds time to teach up to three classes a semester — and to share some hard-won lessons with his students.

“I pretty much tell my class my life story, because I want them to understand that even though you may have a disadvantaged position, there’s still hope,” he said. “You can achieve and make a good life for yourself if you set goals for yourself and strive.”