GRANITE CITY HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1980

Susan Seilheimer Brennan, a 1980 graduate of Granite City High School, is a Manufacturing Director at Ford Motor Company. She runs the Manufacturing Business Office, overseeing the company’s strategic planning for all 21 assembly and stamping plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In 2005, Ms. Brennan was named to the prestigious list of Top 100 Women in the North American Auto Industry by Automotive News, an important automotive trade publication.

Ms. Brennan joined Ford in 1995, holding positions of increasing responsibility in various manufacturing plants including Area Manager, Plant Manager and Manufacturing Director. She was responsible for launching and producing the following vehicles: Ford Escort, Focus, Ranger, Crown Victoria, Expedition, Thunderbird, Ford GT supercar; Mercury Tracer, Grand Marquis; Lincoln Town Car, Lincoln LS, Navigator; and Mazda B-series trucks.

She started her automotive career as Environmental and Chemical Manager for Douglas and Lomason Company in Red Oak, Iowa. She has dedicated her work to finding environmentally responsible manufacturing solutions, an interest she developed in her 4th Grade summer school course at Coolidge with Mr. Michael Edwards. At Douglas and Lomason, her plant won the State of Iowa’s first Waste Minimization Award for eliminating all hazardous waste and reducing solid waste by 50 percent. She was also appointed to the Governor’s Emergency Response Commission while in the position.

Ms. Brennan was selected to manage the site selection, building construction and launch of a new facility in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The facility opened on time, on budget and won the prestigious Q1 award from Ford within six months of production.

At Ford, Ms. Brennan has worked on many award-winning products and vehicle launches. While at Wayne Assembly Plant, she was on the team responsible for winning the 4th best assembly plant designation in North America and the No. 1 Ford plant. The facilities she has managed have received recognition by J.D. Power and Associates, Consumer Report and the EPA Energy Star.

Ms. Brennan is active in many women’s organizations, both inside and outside Ford. She chairs the company’s Professional Women’s Network and Women in Manufacturing for Ford Motor Company. She’s a member of Automotive Women’s Alliance and on the Board on the Tauber Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Michigan. As an advisor to Vista Maria, an intervention and residential care facility for abused girls and their families, she serves on its Board of Directors and is working on the launch of a new charter school on site.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and a MBA from the University of Nebraska in Omaha. She has participated in many post-education curriculum including the Aspen Institute Young Leader Program and the Prince of Wales Sustainability Curriculum.

Ms. Brennan firmly believes that manufacturing, with the right approach and business model, can be both economic and environmental sustainable. She is a proponent of preserving a strong manufacturing presence in the United States, a belief she has become even more passionate about since serving as a key member of Ford’s restructuring team that has had to make plant closing announcements.

She is committed to helping educate U.S. consumers of the important role manufacturing plays in the U.S. economy. Her “real” passion, however, is reserved for her children, Corrie and Mikaela, and her husband, Terry.

Ms. Brennan is grateful for the community’s award and credits her success to her family, her upbringing and the values she learned from Granite City.