Wilson W. Sorensen

Wilson Woodruff Sorensen (August 8, 1916 – July 30, 2009) was the president of Utah Technical College (now Utah Valley University, or UVU) from 1946 to 1982. He played a large role in building up and paving the way for the expansion of the school.

Biography Sorensen was born in Draper, Utah, and was raised in Draper and Deseret, Utah. He graduated from Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah. As a young man and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), he served as a missionary in the California Mission. Later in life he would continue activity in the LDS Church, serving as a bishop and in a stake presidency. and their daughter Kathy died in 2001.

Sorensen graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, with a bachelor's degree in industrial arts and a master's in educational administration.

When Sorensen started at the institution, it had under 1,000 students. By the time he left, there were over 5,500 students and it had moved campuses twice, arriving at its current location in Orem, Utah, under the name Utah Technical College.

Late in life, he moved to South Jordan, Utah. as well as the school's benefactor's society and Lifetime Achievement Award. At UVSC's first alumni recognition banquet in 1998, Sorensen became the award's inaugural recipient. He believed the "best education" was "to first get job preparation" and "[learn] how to make a living", followed by "classes that will enrich you." He argued that the need for academic research was satisfied by existing universities in Utah, which had "enough universities already". He felt UVSC's new university status "will give the school a social image. That's all it will do." Sorensen had hoped for the school to develop into something more like the Dunwoody College of Technology or the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The school's representatives responded that modern students needed academic degrees and that vocational programs had either closed due to poor enrollment or had evolved with industry. It also stated that the need for local vocational training was filled by the Utah College of Applied Technology. Other former UVSC presidents also disagreed with Sorensen and welcomed university status.

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