Steven R. Heyman (1946–93), professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming and past president of APA Division 47 then Exercise and Sport Psychology, died at the age of 46 during the night of October 31, 1993 in Denver, Colorado. His death was tragic and unexpected.
Steve grew up in New York City and received his BA in psychology from City College of the City University of New York in 1968. He received his MA in psychology from California State University in 1970, and his PhD in clinical and community psychology from Louisiana State University in 1976. He did his clinical internship at the University of Florida from 1974–75. It was at Florida that I met Steve. If you knew Steve, you know that he was never one to suffer fools gladly. Thus, we did not get along from the start. On one slow day in the clinic, we were forced to talk with one another and joyfully discovered our love for the beat writers, particularly Jack Kerouac. I had known him only six months when he completed his internship and returned to LSU. He began his first academic position at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), Weatherford, Oklahoma in 1975. He left for one academic year to teach at the University of Kansas.
He called me in June 1976 to tell me that he had taken the Kansas job, and that SWOSU was desperate and would probably even take me. Since I was unhappily working at a state mental hospital, I jumped at the chance, was interviewed, and taught at SWOSU the year Steve was in Kansas. I learned in that short year, what a helpful and loyal friend Steve was, and how difficult he was to replace at SWOSU. He returned to SWOSU and taught there for four more years before joining the psychology faculty at the University of Wyoming in 1981. He was promoted to full professor in 1990 and received the John P. Ellbogen Outstanding Teaching Award in 1991.
Steve’s academic interests were prodigious. Like many New York psychologists, he started with an interest in Freud and Jung, and published one of his earliest papers on Freud and his concept of racial memories. He was also the chair of the Rural Task Force for Division 27 (Community Psychology) from 1979–84, was a member of Division 12 (Clinical Psychology), Division 29 (Psychotherapy), Division 30 (Psychological Hypnosis), and Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology). He was president of Division 47 from 1991–93. He consulted frequently with the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He was editor, co-editor, or on the editorial board of seven journals. He had numerous journal articles, book chapters, and paper presentations covering his interests in sport psychology, counseling and psychotherapy, hypnosis, and community psychology.
Steve was also passionately involved in the eradication of AIDS. He worked behind the scenes counseling HIV positive and AIDS patients. He lobbied for an increased awareness of AIDS and for safer sexual practices. He used his community psychology expertise to battle AIDS on all fronts while promoting personal respect for human diversity. He was an NIMH certified AIDS Mental Health Trainer, and taught a class at the University of Wyoming on “AIDS: Psychosocial Issues.”
Steve was like a diamond with his many facets. Yet few of his friends and colleagues were fully aware of the vast scope of his interests and contributions to making the world a better place. He liked to laugh, and his friends cherished his incisive wit. He played tennis and poker, although his colleague and friend, Steve Bieber said that Steve’s face always lit up when he had a good hand. At SWOSU, Steve became a certified SCUBA diver, and it remained a passionate interest for him. He played pool and loved to dance. He was a devoted, loyal, supportive, and confidential friend. He will be terribly missed by his family, friends, colleagues, students, and patients. Kerouac wrote, “A hummingbird can come into a house and a hawk will not: so rest and be assured. While looking for the light, you may be devoured by the darkness and find true light.” I hope that Steve finds true light.
