Heyman has a varied background that includes investment management, commercial real estate, retail management and public policy. Most recently, he served as executive director of the Alaska Health Care Roundtable, a consortium of health-care stakeholders and corporations working to improve the Alaska health care system. Before that, he was executive director of Commonwealth North, a nonpartisan policy group that studies and makes recommendations on public policy issues. Previous positions include financial consultant for Merrill Lynch, vice president of investments for Wedbush Morgan Securities, president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and director of leasing for the Dimond Center. He worked 11 years in real estate for the Jack White Co., serving as president for three years.

Heyman and his wife, Carol, grew up in the New York City area. He graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then studied sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design and economics at Brown University. “I was probably the only sculpture student at Rhode Island School of Design also studying economics,” he jokes.

While attending school in 1967, he was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam. After working in New York, the Heymans drove to Anchorage in 1971, where he started as a Sears manager before becoming store manager of the airport duty-free shop.

Although he did not become a sculptor, Heyman's interest in the arts has continued, with a lengthy record as a volunteer for arts organizations. He received a Governor's Award for the Arts in 1985 recognizing his volunteerism. Heyman served as founding board member for the Anchorage Light Opera Theater, trustee of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., vice president of the Anchorage Symphony and president of the Anchorage Museum Association. He currently co-chairs the Anchorage Museum's $21-million capital campaign and serves on the museum's executive building committee and as a board member on its foundation.