John Heilman is a long-time lecturer at USC Gould School of Law. He has taught Community Property at the law school for many years. He also teaches two courses in our LLM program: Topics in American Law and Introduction to American Legal Systems. He was voted  Adjunct Professor of the Year at the law school in 2008, 2010, and 2016.

Heilman is also an alumnus of USC. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a BS degree from Northwestern University. He moved to Southern California to attend USC Gould where he was a notes and articles editor of the Southern California Law Review. Heilman graduated from the law school in 1982. He came back to USC as a student to earn a MA in Public Administration in 2007 and subsequently a MA degree in Real Estate Development in 2009.

Heilman also teaches at Southwestern Law School. He has been named one of the Professors of the Year for the last five years at Southwestern.

In addition to teaching, Heilman is a long-time councilmember in the City of West Hollywood and served as mayor on eight previous occasions. He was actively involved in the incorporation of the city in 1984. Heilman was elected to the first City Council of West Hollywood in November 1984. He served as Mayor of the city in 1985, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2010 and 2017. Heilman was re-elected to the City Council in November 2022.

Heilman has been an active member of the National League of Cities. He has served on the board of both the National League of Cities and the California League of Cities. He currently serves on the Legal Committee of the National League of Cities. He is a past board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the Local Government Commission. He is also the past president of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Local Officials Group and past co-chair of the International Network of Lesbian and Gay Officials. Heilman is also a board member of OutRight International, an international organization focusing on the legal rights of sexual minorities.

Heilman is a board member and immediate past president of the Jacaranda School, a school for children orphaned by AIDS in Malawi.