Heiman van Dam

Heiman (Herman) van Dam, M.D., passed away in his sleep on Sunday, February 28, 2016. He will be deeply missed. Professor van Dam was born in the Netherlands, on February 5, 1920. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1939 to escape the Holocaust. He completed undergraduate studies at USC in 1942, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and completed Medical School there in 1945.

While doing his medical training, he met a beautiful young nurse, Barbara Strona, who captured his heart. They married in 1945 and their love flourished through seventy years of marriage. Professor van Dam served as a Captain in the Army from 1946 to 1948 in Pennsylvania.

Professor Heiman had a satisfying and illustrious career as a psychoanalyst. He was deeply committed to the psychoanalytic community, serving in various ways, including at the LA Psychoanalytic Institute, Center for Early Education, Reiss-Davis Clinic, San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, American Psychoanalytic Association, and was an Associate Clinical Professor in Psychiatry and Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine from 1960-1996. One of his proudest moments came when he was selected to present a lecture in honor of and attended by Anna Freud, of Sigmund Freud.

He is survived by his wife Barbara as well as daughters Rika (Richard), Claire (Cindy), daughter-in-law Kathy, grandchildren Matthew, Alex, Aaron, Mara, and Set, great- grandson Arnav; predeceased by sons Hans and Machiel.