Kiehl to Address Tech Grads

Susan Brechting Kiehl, who graduated from Michigan Tech in 1983, returns to her alma mater Saturday, April 29, to deliver the Spring Commencement">Commencement address.

At commencement, the university will recognize the achievements of more than 900 graduates. A total of 18 associate degrees and 769 bachelor’s degrees will be awarded. In addition, three master of forestry, four master of engineering, 92 master of science and 29 PhD graduates will be honored. A posthumous doctorate will be given to David Gaskill, who passed away in August shortly before completing a PhD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication.

Kiehl leads Lockheed Martin’s Greece F-16 Programs, which supply F-16 fighter jets to the Greek government. She is based at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kiehl, a native of Spring Lake, graduated from Michigan Tech in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering. She joined Lockheed Martin (then General Dynamics) as a metallurgical engineer in 1984 and then became an engineering chief and engineering manager before moving into business development, where she has served as a manager and director.

In 2001, Kiehl was selected for the company’s Senior Leadership Development Program and, in 2002, its Executive Leadership Development Program. She now leads a 12-person team responsible for the design, construction and delivery of 30 F-16s, known as Fighting Falcons, to Greece as part of a U.S. government program.

Kiehl serves on the Industrial Advisory Board of MTU’s College of Engineering and is a member of the Presidential Council of Alumnae. In addition to her own ties to Michigan Tech, her grandfather, Gilly Boyd, taught at the university; her father, Frank Brechting, earned two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree from the school; and her brother, Frank, also graduated from Michigan Tech.

Kiehl is involved in church activities and Alzheimer’s work. She runs marathons and relishes what she calls “the joys of children.” She and her husband, Brad, have three, Sam, Lilli and Isabelle. The family resides in Fort Worth.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.