Politics
Bill Bazzi
· politician, engineer, diplomat
Lebanese-born Marine veteran and Ford engineer who became mayor of Dearborn Heights in 2021 and was later appointed US ambassador to Tunisia.
- Birth name
- Bilal Bazzi
- Detroit years
- 1997–
- Field
- Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bazzi was born in Lebanon, served in the US Marine Corps, and settled in Dearborn in 1997, where he graduated from Fordson High School, the city's historic school in the heart of its Arab American community. In 1999 he joined Ford Motor Company as a product development engineer. Active in local government, he became mayor of neighboring Dearborn Heights in 2021, the city's first Arab American mayor. His tenure saw clashes with the city council over police leadership, including an unsuccessful recall petition in 2023. In 2022 the Metropolitan Detroit Veterans Coalition named him its Veteran of Honor at the Veterans Day parade in Corktown. Breaking with many local Democrats, he endorsed Donald Trump in 2024, and in 2025 he was confirmed as ambassador to Tunisia, resigning as mayor that October.
Highlights
- Graduate of Dearborn's Fordson High School
- Ford product development engineer from 1999
- Mayor of Dearborn Heights, 2021–2025
- US ambassador to Tunisia, confirmed in 2025
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1990s
Fordson High School
Dearborn's landmark public high school, built on land donated by the Ford family, with a largely Arab American student body.