State and Regional Boards

As lawmakers in Washington begin work on reforming the financial regulations for Wall Street, Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Tennessee Senator Bob Corker are setting a strong example of bipartisan cooperation that may provide the key to a successful legislative package. A recent article for Businessweek titled "Dancing Across the Aisle" reads in part:

"Warner and Corker, both members of the Senate Banking Committee, are working across party lines on a compromise on one crucial aspect of the effort to strengthen the federal government's ability to stave off another Wall Street crisis. Their collaboration contrasts with congressional acrimony on health care and other topics. "The word from the Republican leadership is for the most part: Don't cooperate on Obama's agenda," says Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution. The Banking panel "is the only place in the entire Congress where Democrats and Republicans are actually talking together."

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to watch Senator Warner, a founding Board member of the Sorensen Institute, call for bipartisan cooperation in the U.S. Senate.

Public radio station WVTF, which broadcasts throughout southwest, southside and central Virginia, aired this story about the Sorensen Institute this morning. Interviews included Chris Fairchild (PLP 08), Mike Farruggio (PLP 06), and Regional Board member Kelli Palmer.

Paul Harris, the Vice Chairman of the Sorensen Institute's State Advisory Board, was a guest yesterday afternoon on Cox Communications Local Edition program, which will be broadcast throughout the northern Virginia region in coming weeks on its Headline News channel.

Paul was interviewed about the Sorensen Institute and the launch of our recruiting season for the 2010 Political Leaders Program and the Candidate Training Program. Applications are now being accepted through November 9.

We will post a copy of the interview with Paul as soon as it is available.

Ruth Sorensen Singer has announced her retirement from the Sorensen Institute's State Advisory Board on which she has passionately represented the Sorensen family for 12-plus years. Ruth is a younger sister to Tom Sorensen, for whom the Sorensen Institute is named.

Ruth Sorensen Singer was born in 1931 in Lincoln,Nebraska.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Nebraska in 1952 and received her M.A. in International Relations from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1955. 

She married Derek Singer, a Foreign Service Officer, and they spent more than 25 years overseas predominantly in Africa and Latin America. They have four 4 children. Ruth has worked as a speechwriter and an English teacher.

Per Ruth's nomination, Adam Sorensen (Tom's youngest son) will be joining the Board to represent the family and serve the mission of the Institute which proudly bears his father's name. 

Adam Sorensen (in photo at right) was born in February of 1986 in Pemburry, England. He lived in Charlottesville from the time he was three-years old until leaving for college in 2005. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a minor in Asia and Middle East Studies in June of 2009, and was inducted into the Kappa Tau Alpha journalism honor society.

In high school and college, he twice interned at The Hook newspaper in Charlottesville, and interned at Time Magazine during the 2008 presidential election under former ABC News Political Director and now Time Editor-at-Large Mark Halperin. Since graduation, he has worked for Time, covering politics for Halperin's online political digest, "The Page." Adan resides in New York City.

"As both a journalist and a Sorensen," Adam writes, "I feel a duty to promote public service, understand a diversity of policy issues and foster ethics in public office through nonpartisan means."

"We appreciate Ruth's service," said John Hager, Chairman of the Sorensen Institute's State Advisory Board. "Ruth always brought a fresh and upbeat approach to carrying out the Sorensen legacy. We are excited to now have Adam and his different perspective and enthusiasm.

Bob Gibson is the Executive Director of the Sorensen Institute. "All of us at Sorensen would like to thank Ruth Sorensen Singer," Gibson said, "for her years of dedicated and spirited service as a delightful member of Sorensen's state board. Her energy and wit and wisdom will be missed. We all look forward to working with Adam Sorensen as our newest member of the board. As Tom Sorensen's youngest son and as a distinguished journalist, he brings a commitment to ethics in government and a dedication to public service that will assist the board and the Sorensen Institute's ability to teach the skills that help provide quality political leadership and sound public policy."

The Sorensen Institute has the benefit of an active 26-member State Advisory Board.  This extraordinary team of people provides not only personal and corporate financial resources but brings a wealth of experience and institutional knowledge that establish the Sorensen Institute as a leader in Virginia’s future.  Board members contribute to Sorensen through gifts of their time, talents and financial resources and have given more than $150,000 in personal funds the past two years.

The Sorensen Institute’s mission is to improve political leadership in Virginia, thereby strengthening the quality of governance at all levels of government.  The Sorensen Institute accomplishes its mission with strong input from its bipartisan statewide board through educational programs for people of all ages designed around ethics, public policy, and politics in Virginia.  These programs prepare people to become candidates for office, government officials, and citizen activities in the affairs of their communities, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation.

At its meeting this past Friday in Charlottesville, the Sorensen Institute's State Advisory Board voted unanimously to welcome three new members. Fred Scott, a generous investor in the Sorensen mission since its founding, will return to the board. Delegate Margi Vanderhye, a graduate of the Candidate Training Program Class of 2005 and the Political Leaders Program Class of 2006, joins the Board as does former Virginia State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis.

Former Lieutenant Governor John H. Hager has been elected Chairman of the University of Virginia's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. Hager was elected unanimously by his fellow board members at a meeting of the State Advisory Board this past Friday in Charlottesville.

John Hager served as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor from 1998-2002 in the Gilmore administration and is a past Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. Hager has previously served as Chairman of the Sorensen Institute's State Advisory Board before stepping down in 2003 to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education in the George W. Bush administration.

"This is a great honor and a personal thrill for me to return to the Sorensen Board as Chairman. I believe very strongly in the Sorensen mission that Virginia can and should be an example for the nation when it comes to improving the quality of government and political leadership. We have a dedicated board, a strong alumni base, and a superb staff. I am looking forward to working with them all."

Bob Gibson is the Executive Director of the Sorensen Institute. "Sorensen is very fortunate to have John back on the Board and serving as Chairman. He is one of Virginia's most dedicated public servants and a great leader. We owe a great debt to Barbara Fried as well, our immediate past Chairman. Barbara has served Sorensen with great skill and has inspired us all. I have sincerely enjoyed working with Barbara and know that the Sorensen Institute is a stronger organization thanks to her leadership."

John H. Hager is shown at left in photo with out-going Sorensen Chairman Barbara Fried.