William (left) and Delores Brehm read the names of past and current Brehm scholarship recipients in the new Brehm Hallway, previously B Hall at Fordson High School during an unveiling ceremony May 24.
By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — The former B hall at Fordson High School where students, staff and parents enter every day has been renamed the William K. and Delores S. Brehm Hallway honoring the Brehm family’s contributions.
Since 2004, the Brehms have awarded 63 total undergraduate and medical school scholarships to students at FHS who attend the University of Michigan.
U-M Medical School students and FHS graduates Ali Nasrallah and Mariam Hamid came up the idea last spring. The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education unanimously passed the resolution during the June 13 meeting approving the name change.
“The Brehms have provided personal support and guidance to help students become successful and set the bar high for learning,” Fordson Principal Heyam Alcodray said. “The Brehm family have paid it forward for years so someone else can benefit from the support.”
Hamid, a 2010 Brehm scholar, said the Brehms’ investment goes further than just paying the tuition of students.
“His investment is in our homes, schools and community because he builds personal relationships with all scholars,” she said. “We are all pieces of the Brehms and we should pass on the torch Mr. Brehm has lit for us.”
A 2008 Brehm scholar, Abbas Alawieh graduated with a master’s degree in public health from U-M and admitted that he thought the scholarship would only be a way to ease a finical burden.
“Mr. Brehm invested in us and welcomed us into his family,” Alawieh said. “His gift allowed me to travel and open doors because of my education at Michigan. He changed the standards of education and lives of students in the community.”
Three signs now hang in the hall, one at each entrance and one in the center on the wall. Signs designed and created by the art and welding departments contain the blue and gold colors of FHS.
Also in the hall are the names of all Brehm scholars which will be updated as the years go on and scholarships are awarded.
William Brehm was born and raised in Dearborn and a 1947 graduate of Fordson High School. He then graduated from U-M, earning a bachelor of science with honors and a master of science majoring in mathematics and physics.
After graduation, he began his career in advanced engineering in the aerospace industry, music and business world.
Brehm served as assistant secretary of the Army and as assistant secretary of defense in the Ford administration.
When asked if he would like to comment on the new hall name, Brehm said everything had been said by others but that was “grateful for the honor.”
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)