WASHINGTON - At an Oval Office ceremony Wednesday, Wayzata businessman Ward Brehm received the country's second-highest civilian honor for his humanitarian work in Africa.
President Bush bestowed Brehm, 57, with the Presidential Citizens Medal, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his role in expanding support for agricultural and small businesses owned by Africans. As chairman of the United States African Development Foundation, a role to which Bush appointed him in 2004, Brehm has stressed the importance of fostering African self-sufficiency.
About 100 U.S. citizens have been awarded the medal since it was established in 1969, including Muhammad Ali, Robert Gates, Elizabeth Taylor and Bob Dole. Brehm was one of 25 people to receive it Wednesday.
Since his first trip to Africa in 1993, Brehm has traveled to the continent 32 times. He initiated the Windpump Project in the early 1990s that brought clean water to remote areas in Kenya, and has funded other ventures to improve local schools, create greater access to health care and build infrastructure. He has also represented the United States on several diplomatic visits to the continent and written two books about his experiences.
Brehm is the founder and chairman of the Brehm Group Inc., an insurance consulting firm. He and his wife, Kris, live in Wayzata.
MITCH ANDERSON
