Richard E. Sorensen

Dean, Pamplin College of Business

Richard E. Sorensen

Phone: 540-231-6601

Fax: 540-231-4487

Office: Pamplin 1030

Education:

• B.S. Electrical Engineering, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute
• MBA, NYU Stern's Graduate School of Business
• Ph.D., NYU Stern's Graduate School of Business

Biography

A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Richard E. Sorensen received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now Polytechnic University) and an MBA and a Ph.D. in management from New York University's Stern Graduate School of Business. Since July 1982, he has been dean of the Pamplin College, where his achievements include a $70 million fund-raising program and a comprehensive strategic planning effort.

The dean is a past chair of the board of directors of AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accrediting agency for degree programs in business administration and accounting. At AACSB, he is currently chair of the nominating and accreditation coordinating committees and board champion for the doctoral education task force. Sorensen also chairs the board of directors of the Global Foundation for Management Education. He was appointed in 2007 to the educators’ advisory panel of the Government Accountability Office.

Sorensen was dean of the John Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University for nine years before he joined Virginia Tech. He has provided consulting services to many corporations and served on many boards of directors. He also has been appointed to various governmental committees and task forces dealing with issues affecting the state of Virginia.

Sorensen served as an airborne-ranger qualified officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross.