Pamplin College dean assumes AACSB board chairmanship
Richard E. Sorensen, of Blacksburg, and dean of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, assumed the chair of the board of directors of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International as of July 1.
AACSB International is a nonprofit corporation that seeks to promote and improve higher education in business administration and management. Organized in 1916, it is the premier accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degree programs in business administration and accounting.
Sorensen has a long record of service to the association beginning in 1982 as a member of its government relations committee. He has served on many AACSB International committees, including those for initial, business, and continuing accreditation; standards; and government relations. As chair of the business accreditation committee, he led efforts to accredit more than 30 non-U.S. business programs. He also has chaired the accreditation quality committee and the committee on issues in management education, and served as vice chair-chair elect of the board in 2004-2005.
A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Sorensen received a bachelor’s from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now Polytechnic University) and and a master’s 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.
Sorensen was dean of the John Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University for nine years before he joined Virginia Tech. He 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.
Sorensen 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.
AACSB International, based in Tampa, Fla., has 968 educational institutions among its members that also comprise corporations and government and nonprofit organizations. In addition to accreditation, the association conducts an extensive array of development programs for faculty and administrators; engages in research and survey projects on topics specific to the field of management education; maintains relationships with disciplinary associations and other groups; interacts with the corporate community on a variety of projects and initiatives; and produces a wide variety of publications and special reports on trends and issues within management education.
