Biography: William K. and Delores S. ( Dee ) Brehm

Bill and Dee Brehm grew up in hard-working families in Dearborn and Ypsilanti, Michigan, respectively. Both attended public schools, and with scholarship support went on to nearby universities — Bill at the University of Michigan and Dee at Eastern Michigan University.

Mr. & Mrs. Brehm

On a fateful day in the late 1940s, they met at a fashion show in Ypsilanti , where Dee was modeling and Bill's singing trio was helping to provide the entertainment. That chance meeting led to a marriage that for nearly 55 years has been filled with devotion to one another, to their work, faith and family, and to their country.

The Brehms faced a challenge not shared by most young couples beginning their lives together: Dee had been diagnosed with Type I diabetes during her sophomore year.

At the time, this disease came with a dire prognosis: a life of insulin injections, tightly controlled diets, and the constant threat of debilitating complications and shortened lifespan. And, in the days before blood glucose meters and fast-acting medications, Dee and many other Type I patients faced the many emergency hospitalizations when blood sugar got too low or too high.

When her diabetes first reared its head, Dee had been taken to the U-M hospital, admitted for two weeks and treated by Jerome Conn, M.D., chief of endocrinology. Later, just before graduating and marrying, Dee was asked to bring Bill to one of her appointments, and the young couple was advised never to have children, for fear of overtaxing Dee's body.

After marrying, the Brehms moved to San Diego , where Dee taught special-education students. Bill, with his two U-M degrees in mathematics, joined Convair, an aerospace firm that soon became part of General Dynamics Corporation. In California, Dee 's care was overseen by Winston Hall, M.D., a graduate of the U-M Medical School and protégé of Dr. Conn. With his guidance, she and Bill defied the odds and had two healthy babies, Eric and Lisa.

After 12 years, the Brehms left the west coast for the nation's capital, where Dee continued the important work of raising the children while at the same time applying her special-education training to become a powerful advocate for early education and the Head Start program.

Bill continued to build a career that combined the worlds of business and government service. He served as assistant secretary of the Army under Presidents Johnson and Nixon, and later as assistant secretary of defense under President Nixon and President Ford, a fellow U-M alumnus. Later, Bill led a team that helped reform the organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, writing recommendations that were adopted by Congress in 1986.

In the last 27 years, Bill has been part of the revolution that has made information technology a critical component of business, industry and government. He is now Chairman Emeritus of SRA International, a leading provider of information technology and systems integration services to clients in national security, civil government and public health.

Together, the Brehms have managed the complexity of Dee 's Type I diabetes while keeping her free from complications, allowing them to enjoy their lives together in McLean, Virginia, and their six grandchildren. In recent years, they have turned their attention to managing another kind of complexity: the myriad avenues of research that share the common goal of understanding, treating, preventing the progression of — and most importantly, curing — Type I diabetes.

They have focused their efforts on the University of Michigan , first as inaugural members of the 28-member U-M Health System Development Task Force, then as the sponsors of an endowed chair in Type I diabetes research, and now as the source of the single largest gift ever received by UMHS. It will fund an unprecedented array of facilities, faculty and research that will help scientists, doctors and information technology specialists accelerate the search for a cure.