Bruce Heyman

Heyman was born in Elmira, New York[2] to a Jewish family[3][4] and raised in Dayton, Ohio.[5] Heyman graduated from the Miami Valley School, and received a B.A. (1979) and an M.B.A. (1980) from Vanderbilt University.[6][7] His grandfather, Sam Malamud, immigrated from Lithuania in 1912. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Ben, and assumed the surname of his cousin, Henry Heyman.[8]

In 1977 and 1978, Heyman interned at the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressman Charles Whalen of Ohio.[6] In the summer of 1979, Heyman was a researcher for the Small Business Committee and Restraint of Trade Subcommittee.[9]

In 1980, Heyman worked as a Chicago-based investment banker for Goldman Sachs.[10] From 1985 to 1999, Heyman served as Vice President of Goldman Sachs.[9]

From 1999 to 2014, he served as managing director of private wealth management at Goldman Sachs.[10]

Bruce and Vicki Heyman with two Governor General's Foot Guards, before he presents his credentials as ambassador to David Lloyd Johnston, the Governor General of Canada.

Prior to becoming Ambassador, Heyman served as a board member for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Foundation. He also served as an advisor to the Fix the Debt CEO Council of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He has been a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, The Executives' Club of Chicago, and the Facing History and Ourselves Chicago Advisory Board.[11]

On September 19, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Heyman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.[12][13] Heyman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2014.[14][15]

As the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Heyman became a member of the Fulbright Canada Board of Directors.[16]

In 2014 and 2016, Heyman was named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business.[17][18]

In 2015, Heyman gave the keynote address at Niagara University's commencement ceremony.[19] At the ceremony, Heyman was presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.[19]

In January 2017, he announced that he was stepping down as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.[20]

Heyman and his wife have been prominent donors to President Obama since 2007 and have been some of his top fundraisers. In 2012, both he and his wife served on Obama's National Finance Committee tasked with raising funds for Obama's re-election campaign.[10]

He is married to his wife and fellow Vanderbilt classmate Vicki Simons[21] who is also Jewish.[3] The two married on June 15, 1980 in Ashland, Kentucky.[6] They have three children: David, Liza, and Caroline,[21] as well as three grandchildren.

His wife served on the executive board of the Center for Jewish Life at Vanderbilt University and the foundation board of the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.[22]

The Heymans are members of the Reform Judaism Temple Shalom of Chicago.[23]