Wilson W. Sorensen is a man who dared to dream grand dreams for vocational education – and made them come true through his leadership in cooperation with the governor, legislature and others. When he retires next June 30, he will have completed 40 years with Utah Technical College and its forerunner, the Central Utah Vocational School, 37 of them at the helm as president or director. Sorensen presided at development of the Provo Campus in the 1950s and over expansion of both the studentbody and the vocational cirriculum, But his grandest dream was the new Orem campus, with handsome buildings shaped to the hillside terrain and space on the 185-acre site to grow. With the Provo campus serving well, although “hemmed in” against extensive future growth, Sorensen faced his greatest challenge in convincing the governor and legislature of the need for the Orem campus. But convince them he did, with the help of others, and today the sprawling campus east of the freeway off the 12th South access is approximately half completed. ” In 1973, then Gov. Calvin L. Rampton recommended the state proceed with construction at the already-acquired Orem site. The legislature allocated $8 million and ground was broken in 1974 for the first buildings. With both Provo and Orem campuses operating, Utah Technical College is a far cry from the small Central Utah Vocational School which was founded in 1941 under the federal manpower training program for defense, with H.E. Johnson as first director. The CUVS functioned at the Utah County Fairgrounds until the Provo campus was built. Sorensen joined the school in the summer of 1941 as purchasing agent, He became director in 1945 after the vocational school was taken into the state system under the Utah State Board for Vocational Education. The initial $50.000 appropriation for the biennium was doubled by the legislature in 1947 when state sponsorship became permanent. Sorensen’s title was changed to presidenL Today’s Utah Technical College enrollment is at a peak of 5,000. When the Orem campus is completed the combined campuses will be able to accommodate an estimated 16,000 students. The fact that the school has a waiting list of student applicants indicates the growing interest in vocational education. A continuing challenge in the future will be to obtain adequate funding, even though UTC has led all Utah colleges by a substantial margin in “full time equivalent students” growth in the last two bienniums. The Board of Regents’ recommended appropriation per FTE for the 198182 biennium does not reflect a commensurate increase. Far from it. President Sorensen’s leadership during his long career – both at Utah Technical College and in the community – merits public commendation, On the Orem campus, it is appropriate that the Student Center, dedicated in 1976, is named for him – a permanent honor and recognition for Sorensen’s great contribution to vocational education. v