Tanya Heidelberg-Yopp was the Chief Counsel for MTV, interim chief executive officer of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, after having served as its chief operating officer. Heidelberg-Yopp earned a degree in telecommunications management from Syracuse University, a law degree from New York University School of Law and a degree in management development from Harvard Business School. She received the Syracuse University Chancellor Citation for Outstanding Young Alumni and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence. Heidelberg-Yopp, 56, of Detroit died Nov. 13 of brain cancer.
Prague Society’s Chair Marc Ellenbogen remembers her from his days at Syracuse University: “Tanya Heidelberg and I had run-ins all the time during our Syracuse days because of the student government. And, of course, I had gone up to her and said her name is my hometown. As I was born in Heidelberg, the famous university town in Germany. And she didn’t get what I was trying to tell her. So we kept on raising our voices. And then, we just looked at each other and started laughing like idiots. And we became great friends. I respected her very much.”
