For release 2008-02-05

James LeVoy Sorenson Leaves Personal Fortune to Charity

SALT LAKE CITY (February 5, 2008) — The family of James LeVoy Sorenson, who was a medical device inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, today announced that he bequeathed his entire personal fortune to charity and fulfilled another of his life-long goals.

Sorenson, 86, rose from humble economic circumstances during the worst years of the Great Depression to become one of the world's premier medical innovators and business leaders. Due to Sorenson’s dyslexia and mistaken slowness in school, his first grade teacher predicted that he would never be able to read. Yet, Sorenson went on to become one of the most gifted and productive medical device innovators of the modern age. He was renowned for co-developing the first computerized heart monitoring system and developing such innovations as the first disposable paper surgical mask; the first modern venous catheters; and the first blood recycling system for trauma and surgical procedures. Sorenson held dozens of patents for his inventions, many of which have become standard equipment in today’s healthcare industry.

Sorenson also became known for his charitable efforts locally and nationally. His philanthropic endeavors included the ongoing creation of a worldwide, correlated genetic and genealogical database used in ancestry research and sizable donations to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, a university for deaf and hard of hearing. His gifts have also assisted arts and science programs at the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Utah State University and Southern Utah University. Recently Sorenson pledged matching funds to the State of Utah to provide emergency dental care coverage for 40,000 blind, disabled and elderly Utah residents to make up for a loss of government funding.

“My father believed in the philosophy, ‘Give your children enough to do something, but not so much that they do nothing’,” said Sorenson’s oldest son, James Lee Sorenson. “He always said that his greatest legacy was his family. As a family, we laud his great generosity to charity, but the greatest treasure he left us was his enduring love.”