PROFILE: UC's Newest Trustee Brings Global Perspective

UC's newest board member has a history of public service in Greater Cincinnati and an enthusiasm in promoting education.

Those two interests intersect in Gary Heiman's appointment this spring to the UC Board of Trustees by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. Even though Heiman doesn't have much direct history with UC, he is excited about being a part of a bright future for the university.

"I am optimistic and I really think this university is going places," says Heiman, the president and CEO of Standard Textile Co, Inc.

His company is the global leader in the development and manufacture of state-of-the-art medical, hospitality, and industrial textile products and management systems that serve the largest healthcare, hospitality, and industrial supply organizations in the USA and Europe. Its products are manufactured in facilities around the globe including the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Cambodia and China.

That international aspect to his business career gives Heiman his own perspective on what students need to compete in a global economy.

"One of the unique aspects that I bring to the board is that I've lived half my professional life outside the U.S.," Heiman says. "I've worked in a global environment for the last 30 years. The students of tomorrow have to be prepared and understand how to work in a world tied together more tightly. My experience in working in a global environment, made up of different cultures, races and economic systems, will hopefully add something to the university."

Heiman is a native Cincinnatian who lived in town until attending Washington University in St. Louis. He did graduate work at Georgia Tech and the Saurer Institute in Switzerland before starting, in 1973, Arad Textile Industries, Ltd., in Israel. He grew that company into a leading supplier for hospitals and hotels in Europe and the United States and, in 2001, was awarded the "Industrialist of the Year" Prize by the State of Israel's president.

Heiman's interest in Mideast affairs did not end when he relocated to Cincinnati in 1986 to join Standard Textile, the company his German immigrant grandfather started from the family apartment in the 1940s. Heiman has been active in organizations promoting peace and growth in the Mideast and, in 1998, led Standard Textile as the first American company to build a manufacturing facility in Irbid, Jordan.

Working with Jordanian partners, the venture supported the U.S. government's efforts to bring the economic benefits of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel to the people of Jordan, where unemployment stood at 40 percent at the time. Today, the joint venture operates two plants in Jordan employing hundreds of workers.

"With the exception of a few industries, I don't see how today you can survive and grow in business without being involved outside of the United States in some form or fashion," says Heiman.

But community involvement has also been a priority for Heiman. He is Chairman of the Board of The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati, and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, among a host of other involvements he has in the Cincinnati community.

With three teenage children at home, Gary and his wife Kim are becoming ever more acutely aware of the importance of strong higher education institutions as a necessity for a strong community.

"I have a great interest in seeing UC become the best it can be," Heiman says. "My youngest brother, Harry, went to UC Medical School, my kids are coming up on college age and I have a company that has hired many UC graduates. So now being on the UC board takes on a special significance and place of interest for me."