PHONE: (313) 593-5518
DATE: Feb. 6, 2006
UM-Dearborn professor emeritus Joachim Bruhn died Dec. 12
DEARBORN---Joachim Bruhn, professor emeritus of German and humanities
at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, died Dec. 12 in Munich, Germany,
from complications from a fall. He was 78 years old.
Bruhn served as dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters at
UM-Dearborn from 1974 to 1979 and was director of the campus's Honors
College from 1979 to 1983. He also helped create UM-Dearborn's International
Studies Program and was its director from 1981 to 1984. He retired from
the faculty and was named professor emeritus in 1992.
At UM-Dearborn, he taught a wide range of courses in literature and culture,
including courses in East German literature at a time when the subject
was often neglected.
"A dynamic and enthusiastic teacher, he had great success in attracting
and keeping students in the German program," the U-M Regents noted
on Bruhn's retirement. "He maintained active contact with area high
schools, and his yearly travels to East and West Germany kept his teaching
informed by direct and up-to-date experience of current events and trends."
Bruhn sought other ways to enrich students' cultural lives, including
organizing groups of students and their families to attend concerts of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. After his retirement, he returned to Germany
where he was able take advantage of the wide array of musical and artistic
offerings, including concerts, music festivals and art shows.
A native of Germany, Bruhn earned his doctorate from the University of
Kiel, and also studied at the University of Zurich, Oxford University
and Brown University. Before joining the UM-Dearborn faculty in 1974,
he taught at the U-M Ann Arbor campus and Duke University, and held administrative
and faculty positions at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the City University
of New York. After retirement, he moved to Munich after serving as guest
lecturer at the University of Rostock in the former East Germany.
Survivors include his companion, Gertrud Diekmann; his former wife, Marsha
S. Bruhn; and his four children, son Dieter Bruhn and daughters Elisa
Wells, Erika Bruhn and Christa Bruhn.
A memorial service will be held at a family reunion in Michigan in August.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Joachim "Kim" Bruhn
Scholarship for International Study at the Office of Institutional Advancement,
1040 Administration Building, UM-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn
MI 48128. The scholarship fund will support study-abroad programs for
UM-Dearborn students.
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