ACA building to be renamed in honor of Max L. Heyman

After the passing of former history professor Max Heyman, Valley College instituted a scholarship in his name and plans to rename the Administration and Career Advancement building.

By Edward Segal, Valley Life Editor

The Administration and Career Advancement building is the home for academic affairs at Valley College, and also houses classrooms for students and conference rooms for faculty. The ACA building will be renamed after Max L. Heyman, who was a history professor at Valley until he died in 1986. (Griffin O'Rourke / The Valley Star)

Valley College’s ACA building, home of the Valley Foundation, will now be named the Max L. Heyman Administration and Career Advancement building, in honor of the former history teacher who worked at Valley for 32 years.

Heyman’s wife, Rosalyn “Roz” Shostak Heyman, passed away on Nov. 22 and in her will, donated $2 million to the Valley Foundation with the request that the Administration and Career Advancement building be renamed in honor of her late husband.

“We’re appreciative of the very generous donation from Roz Heyman in honor of her husband, Max,” said Valley President Barry Gribbons. “We look forward to naming ACA after Max.”

According to a Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees meeting in April, the Valley Foundation “has been named as a beneficiary in the estate of Rosalyn (“Roz”) Shostak Heyman and will receive a $2.0 million donation.”

Facing many challenges due to societal prejudices against women, Heyman succeeded in becoming a principal in downtown Los Angeles and turning her school of about 3,300 students around.

“In those days, they didn’t want to appoint women, so they made me wait even though I was tops on the list because they really didn’t want women to succeed,” Heyman told the California Community Foundation. “They gave me the worst school in the city, which was in the heart of the gang area of LA, and they had school police that walk in pairs, and I walked alone.”

She became principal at Berendo Junior High School in 1974 and began what became known as “the golden age of Berendo,” according to the school’s website. Rosalyn cleaned the school; cleaned graffiti off walls, removed gum from under the desks and planted flowers all over campus. She then became the superintendent of the LAUSD in 1982.

“I won the American Educators medal a few years later,” Rosalyn told the Foundation. “That was the most fun of my life when I was principal of this 3300-kid school of six acres, in the heart of almost downtown LA at Pico and Vermont.”

She married Max Heyman, who taught history at Valley from 1954 until his death in 1986. Sixteen years later, Rosalyn began giving back to Valley.

According to the LACCD agenda, she established the Max L. Heyman Perpetual Scholarship for history in 2002. Three years later, Rosalyn donated $25,000 for the creation of the Max L. Heyman Endowed Scholarship. Being the selfless person she was in giving back to Valley, Rosalyn supported many events hosted by the Foundation, including the President’s Circle and the Legacy Society.

The $2 million Heyman donated will go towards the Max L. Heyman Perpetual Scholarship for history students. Each year, one scholarship worth $1,000 is awarded to a standout student majoring in history who has taken at least 12 units in the subject.

Heyman dedicated her life to working with students and helping them succeed. Her charitable acts and creation of scholarships are a continuation of her goals as an educator.

“I want my legacy to help train young people to be future leaders in our country,” the philanthropist told the California Community Foundation.