OREM — Wilson Sorensen's time as leader of a fledgling Provo trade school is more than a chapter in Utah County's history — it's almost half the book.

For 37 years, Sorensen, a carpenter, worked to build a foundation for a training center that was charged with bolstering the ranks of blue-collar workers who could build ammunition and arms for the allies in World War II.

The school has since matured into Utah Valley State College, a 15,000-student community college that boasts four-year degrees, retains a healthy list of trade-training programs and adds an estimated $112 million annually to the county's economy.

Sorensen, 84, was lauded Monday by UVSC. A bronze bust of his likeness, which will be placed in a new wing of the current student center, was unveiled at a ceremony Monday commemorating a day in the Draper native's honor.

"The legacy he left is incredible," said President Kerry D. Romesburg. "If it weren't for the tenacity of Wilson Sorensen this school would have been closed."

The school, initially called the Central Utah Vocational School, was founded in 1941. Wilson, a Brigham Young University graduate who was teaching at Granite High School, was recruited to work as the purchasing agent.

After five years, at 29 years of age, he was asked to take over as director of the school, a title that eventually turned into president. Classes were held in three separate locations in Utah Valley.

"Vocational education had to come in and save the day for the United States," Wilson said. "Vocational education has been a big factor in the success of keeping the free world free."

Sorensen also fought to keep the school open after the war ended. Some 90 percent of his budget was yanked with the cancellation of war production training funds.

Classes were scaled back when the 1943 Legislature opted not to pay for the school. On a shoestring budget, Wilson continued to oversee a handful of classes.

Two years later, the state adopted it into the public education system. Sorensen oversaw the school, which had grown to 2,000 students by 1971, through two campus moves and two state-sanctioned names.

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"I heard people in higher education circles wonder aloud why Wilson Sorensen

was buying land for the school," said J. Marvin Higbee, who was president of Snow College before he succeeded Sorensen at UVSC. "They were all predicting the demise of this school."

Sorensen is amazed at the growth of UVSC, which last year attracted some 35,000 students. In addition, 21,000 adults were taught new skills in job training courses.

"One of the things this world lacks is people of vision. This is a pioneer, a man of vision," said Merrill Bateman, president of neighboring Brigham Young University, a private school that accepts a limited number of Utah County students each year. "This institution is absolutely critical for the destiny of this valley. Wilson Sorensen had the basic vision of what this school needed."

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