Bruce Alan Heyman (born 1958) is an American businessman, author, and former diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017 under President Barack Obama.
In 1980, Heyman worked as a Chicago-based investment banker for Goldman Sachs.[13] From 1985 to 1999, Heyman served as a Vice President of Goldman Sachs.[12] From 1999 to 2014, he served as a managing director of private wealth management at Goldman Sachs,[13] and as a Goldman partner from 2004 until his 2014 appointment as a US Ambassador.[12]
In 2015, Heyman gave the keynote address at Niagara University's commencement ceremony.[23] At the ceremony, Heyman was presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.[23]
In January 2017, he announced that he was stepping down as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.[24] He was replaced by Ambassador Kelly Craft.[25]
During the Presidency of Donald Trump, Heyman and his wife Vicki co-authored The Art of Diplomacy: Strengthening the Canada-U.S. Relationship in Times of Uncertainty, published in 2019. The book describes the Heymans' experiences liaising as Ambassador and as American cultural envoy, respectively, with the Canadian administrations of Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau under the Obama administration's approach to foreign diplomacy. [26]
In 2019, Heyman was appointed co-chairman of the Advisory Board to the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC. [27]
In 2024, Heyman accepted the position of CEO at Power Sustainable, an asset management subsidiary of Power Corporation focused on North American renewable energy projects, after serving as an advisor to board Chairman and outgoing CEO Olivier Desmarais for three years.[28][29]
Political activities
Heyman and his wife were prominent donors to then-Senator Barack Obama beginning in 2007 when they hosted a fundraising event in their home, and came to number among Obama's top fundraisers. In 2012, both he and his wife served on the Obama campaign's National Finance Committee tasked with raising funds for Obama's re-election,[13] together contributing or collecting $1.7 million for his re-election bid.[30]
During the 2020 Presidential Election, the Heymans co-chaired the Biden campaign's American Voter Abroad Initiative[31] and led the outreach group Ambassadors for Biden.[32][33] In 2024, Heyman has publicly supported Biden's candidacy for re-election[34] and has remained supportive of the American Voter Abroad Initiative.[35]
Personal life
He is married to Vanderbilt then-classmate Vicki Simons[36] who is also Jewish.[6] The two married on June 15, 1980 in Ashland, Kentucky.[9] They have three children: David, Liza, and Caroline,[36] as well as six grandchildren.
^ abcThaler, Lisa (1998). Enduring legacies : an ancestral history of David Charles Heyman (1985- ), Liza Rae Heyman (1987- ), and Caroline Lindsey Heyman (1991- ).
^Heyman, Bruce; Heyman, Vicki (2019). The Art of Diplomacy: Strengthening the Canada-U.S. Relationship in Times of Uncertainty. Simon & Schuster (published April 30, 2019). ISBN9781982102678.