The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) was founded in 1948 to promote the professional development of college and university professionals responsible for assisting and advising the thousands of international students who came to study in the United States after World War II. In the following years, the organization expanded its scope to include admissions personnel, English language specialists, and community volunteers who contributed to acclimating international students to American college campuses and communities. In 1964 NAFSA changed its name to the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs. By 1990, there were over 6,400 NAFSA members on 1,800 campuses handling the affairs of over 400,000 international students. To reflect their growth, NAFSA once again changed their name to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Region III, one of NAFSA's 11 geographic regions, is comprised of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Beverly Heyen served as Director of the International Office at Brookhaven College in Dallas, Texas, an office she helped to establish. In 1991, she received a certificate of appreciation at the NAFSA Region III Honors Ceremony. Heyen was chair of the 1996 Region III Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.