News Brief - 10/9/06
Sorenson Legacy Foundation Donates $150K to Western Governors University to Start
College of Health Professions
SALT LAKE CITY -- Western Governors University, a private, non-profit, competency-based
online university supported by 19 governors and more than 20 corporations and foundations,
today announced the Sorenson Legacy Foundation has donated $150,000 to help start
the university's new College of Health Professions.
Scheduled to open November 1, 2006, the new college will serve adults working in
the health care industry who might otherwise be unable to further their education
because of pressing commitments, such as family and work. The program will be the
first national, accredited, competency-based online program for health care professionals.
The Sorenson Legacy Foundation is a charitable organization established by the James
LeVoy Sorenson family to promote altruistic and philanthropic endeavors. Sorenson,
a Utahn, is one of America's top biotechnology pioneers and invented many medical
devices that today are standard equipment in operating rooms and intensive care
units. He is known foremost for developing the computerized heart monitor; he also
invented the first disposable paper surgical mask, the first plastic venous catheter
and the first blood recycling system for trauma and surgical procedures.
"People who are called to the health care professions to ease pain and suffering
and to improve the lives of others deserve our help as well as our everlasting respect,"
said Sorenson. "And WGU is an innovative way to serve those who can't further their
health care education in the traditional way."
WGU's mission is to improve access to higher education for underserved individuals
by enabling them to learn in an online environment independent of time or place,
at an affordable cost.
About the Sorenson Legacy Foundation
The Sorenson Legacy Foundation based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a non-profit corporation
established by the James LeVoy Sorenson family for the exclusive purpose of promoting
charitable, religious, educational, literary and scientific endeavors. The Foundation
is qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
