Inventor, philanthropist James Sorenson, Utah’s richest man, dies at
86
By Joe Bauman and Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News
Published: January 20, 2008
James LeVoy Sorenson, whose success as an entrepreneur, real estate
magnate and inventor of numerous medical devices made him Utah’s
richest man, died of cancer Sunday, Jan. 20, at a Salt Lake hospital.
Besides his wealth and business acumen, Sorenson was renowned as a
philanthropist.
Sorenson, whose wealth was estimated to be $4.5 billion last year by
Forbes magazine, was 86 years old. He was listed as the 68th-richest
American in September 2007.
He was the owner of Sorenson Cos., a parent company to 32
corporations in industries including medicine, bioscience,
investment/development and manufacturing.
Sorenson held more than 40 medical patents during his lifetime and is
perhaps best known for co-developing the first real-time computerized
heart monitor. He also invented the disposable paper surgical mask,
the plastic venous catheter and a blood recycling system for trauma
and surgical procedures, as well as many other medical innovations.
“I think success in his mind was someone that had ideas, that had a
strong work ethic and a tenacity,” son James Lee Sorenson told the
Deseret Morning News. “As you look at examples in the world today,
those are important attributes. I think Dad was a
calculated-risk-taker, and successful people generally are.”
The younger Sorenson said his father’s legacy will be as “a great
American inventor, a man with a tremendous amount of innovation.”
Among his philanthropic endeavors is Sorenson Molecular Genealogy
Foundation, which is creating a worldwide, correlated genetic and
genealogical database used in ancestry research. His donations have
helped a Washington, D.C., university for the deaf and hearing
impaired and assisted in establishment of an outdoor performing arts
pavilion in Herriman. He gave more than $30 million for restoration
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ temple in Nauvoo,
Ill.
After the tsunami of 2004 hit Thailand, he donated DNA testing kits
to assist in identifying the dead, and Sorenson Genomics one of his
companies analyzed their DNA, matching some victims with their
relatives.
He donated land and money to help build the Sorenson Unity Center at
California Avenue and 900 West, next door to the Sorenson
Multicultural Center. The YMCA’s Camp Rogers in the Uinta Mountains
also benefited from his generosity.
He and James Lee Sorenson reached out to help Gallaudet University in
Washington, D.C.; together they donated $5 million to the country’s
largest university for the deaf and hearing impaired.
In April 2007, he gave $6 million to the new Intermountain Medical
Center, raising his contributions to Intermountain Healthcare to $22
million. He pledged $500,000 during a fund-raiser for Primary
Children’s Medical Center in June 2007. In September 2007, the
nonprofit Sorenson Legacy Foundation donated $6 million to the
University of Utah, toward the James LeVoy Sorenson Center, which
will be dedicated to encourage innovation and discovery among
students across Utah.
A crisis concerning the Legislature’s refusal to fund some items in
the state Medicaid program was averted in 2006 when Sorenson and
Intermountain Healthcare donated $1 million each. The next year, the
Legislature picked up the tab.
Sorenson also was a poet and composer of LDS hymns, publishing some
of them in a book titled, “Just Love the People, the World Is our
Family.”
After beginning his career selling pharmaceuticals to physicians for
Upjohn Co. in Salt Lake City, Sorenson started buying real estate in
the Salt Lake area. In 1957 he co-founded Deseret Pharmaceutical, and
the company became the foundation for the establishment of Becton
Dickinson Vascular Access. In 1962, he founded Sorenson Research,
which was sold to Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 100 company, in
1980.
He founded LeVoy’s, a company that made lingerie for modest women and
used Tupperware-style marketing with parties hosted in homes. He also
owned and developed thousands of acres of commercial, residential and
agricultural properties throughout Utah.
Sorenson, who was born in Rexburg, Idaho, and grew up in central
California, is survived by Beverley Taylor Sorenson, his wife of 60
years, and two sons, six daughters, 47 grandchildren and 28
great-grandchildren.
Link: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695245736,00.html
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