Alumni

James LeVoy Sorenson is a renowned American entrepreneur with a long career in which he developed ingenious medical devices that have become essential equipment in health care today. Known foremost for devising the first cardio-vascular lab computer system to monitor the human heart in real-time, he also invented the plastic venous catheter and the disposable paper surgical mask. Each of Mr. Sorenson’s inventions made medicine safer, more effective and more comfortable for patients and solved persistent health care delivery problems. With more than 50 medical patents, it is likely that a Sorenson medical innovation is at work in nearly every operating room and intensive care unit in the United States.

Mr. Sorenson’s ultra-successful career is an outcome no one would have predicted when he was growing up in a tarpaper shack in Yuba City, California, eldest son of a hardworking ditch digger. Slow of speech and dyslexic, young James’ first grade teacher told his mother that her son was mentally retarded and would probably never be able to read. With the support of family and through determination, however, Mr. Sorenson’s grades gradually improved through high school and he dreamed of becoming a physician.

In 1940, he entered Placer Junior College to study pre-med., but World War II and a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission disrupted his path to medical school.

After the war, Mr. Sorenson sold pharmaceuticals to physicians in Salt Lake City, Utah, and built a portfolio of stocks and real estate. While making sales calls on doctors, he closely observed the health care delivery problems they encountered and frequently asked himself, “Isn’t there a better way to do that?” His simple question led to the invention and development of breakthrough medical equipment, including a catheter tip that remains unplugged by continually seeping anti-clotting solution and a machine that recovers, filters and recycles a patient’s blood during trauma or surgical procedures.

The companies Mr. Sorenson founded soon became known worldwide for innovative medical products. They helped spawn Utah’s biotechnology industry, which includes nearly a hundred companies, including industry-leaders Abbott Critical Care Systems and Becton-Dickinson Vascular Access. Today’s Sorenson family of companies includes major real estate, information technology, genetic research, environmental testing and pharmaceutical endeavors.

But “wealth is just another opportunity for achievement,” Mr. Sorenson believes. The financial success of his medical devices and businesses has enabled Mr. Sorenson to turn his attention to making the world a better place in which to live. One of his many philanthropical endeavors, Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, is creating the world's most comprehensive correlated genetic and genealogical database. It is a multi-cultural, multi-racial and ecumenical endeavor. By showing how closely tied by heredity human beings are, Mr. Sorenson believes we will promote peace, compassion and brotherhood among all people.

On November 20, 2003, Mr. Sorenson was honored by the Community College League of California at a banquet in which he received their statewide Distinguished Alumni Award. “James Sorenson is an outstanding role model for our students,” said Barry Abrams, president of the Sierra College Faculty Senate. “His life and work demonstrate how with insight, imagination and hard work, we can transform our lives and the lives of others.” Later Mr. Sorenson was honored by his alma mater as the 2003 Sierra College Alumnus of the Year. Mr. Sorenson received his higher education at Placer Junior College (now the Sierra Community College District) class of 1942.