History of the Sorensen Institute

Overview

The Sorensen Institute was founded as the Virginia Institute of Political Leadership in 1993 by Charlottesville businessmen Leigh Middleditch and Michael Bills. The two shared a vision for an educational and training organization that would identify Virginia's emerging political leaders and bring them together in a spirit of ethics and bipartisanship. It was fitting that the Institute found a home at Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia, where it is proud to be part of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. More than 1,000 Virginians have graduated from the Sorensen Institute's programs. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, and Libertarians have all taken advantage of the superior education and advanced training offered by the Sorensen Institute.

"An Extraordinary Project"

In 2006 co-founders Michael Bills and Leigh Middleditch sat down for a rare on-camera interview to reflect on the history of the Sorensen Institute. Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, a member of the Sorensen State Board and an influential early advocate of the organization, also shares his memories of the founding of the Sorensen Institute.

Who is Sorensen?

In 1997 the Virginia Institute was named for generous benefactor Thomas C. Sorensen shortly before he passed away. Tom Sorensen was a retired investment executive and a former Deputy Director of the U.S. Information Agency. Tom had a passionate belief in the mission of this organization. It was his wish that future generations of Virginians would always have the ability to take advantage of this unique opportunity. At the heart of Tom Sorensen's inspiring legacy is an enthusiastic commitment to principled leadership and public service. In the photo at right from 1997, Tom Sorensen (far right) is recognized for his generosity by representatives of the newly named Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership (from left to right): the State Board's first Chairman, John Munford; co-founder Leigh Middleditch; and founding Executive Director Bill Wood. Click here to learn more about Tom Sorensen.

History of Programs

Political Leaders
The first class of Political Leaders graduated from the Sorensen Institute in the spring of 1994. The late State Senator Emily Couric was a member of that inaugural group. For its first two years, the program was held twice a month and graduated two classes each year. In 1996 the program was modified to its current schedule of holding class one weekend a month for ten months. In addition to its strong focus on ethics and bipartisanship,  the Political Leaders Program has always been committed to making sure students see as much of Virginia as possible. Throughout the program, each diverse class of participants has spent time in various locations across the Commonwealth—from Roanoke to Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia to Southside, Richmond to the Valley.
      Beginning in 2005, under the leadership of a new Executive Director Sean O'Brien, an optional Friday lunch and tour were added to the PLP weekend schedule. Since that time the Friday tour has become one of the most popular aspects of the program. Participants enjoy exclusive, personally guided visits to a variety of sites  across Virginia, all of which speak to many of the policy issues now facing state and local governments—whether it is the port at Norfolk, a state prison facility in Southside, or a poultry processing plant in the Valley. Over the years the Sorensen Institute's Political Leaders Program has become a traditional "first step" for future political leaders in Virginia. In 2009 the Political Leaders Program will mark its 15th anniversary of classes.

College and High School Leaders
In keeping with its mission to educate, inspire, and train Virginia's future political and community leaders, the Sorensen Institute began offering two youth programs in 2004. Like all Sorensen programs, the High School and College Leaders Programs are focused on ethics, bipartisanship, public policy, and civic engagement. The curricula are designed to provide young Virginians with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective leaders and advocates at the state and local levels of the political process.
      Sorensen's youth programs had their origins at the Virginia Citizenship Institute (VCI), which had been founded in 1996 by Greg Werkheiser and Martin Haley (both of whom later became members of the Sorensen State Board). VCI launched its College Leaders Program in the summer of 1999 and a High School Leaders Program in 2003. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized the Sorensen Institute's College and High School Leaders Programs in 2007 as being among the very best in the nation and something of a national model when it comes to educating young people about the democratic process. Our youth programs have since been studied and replicated in New Hampshire.

Candidate Training
Thanks to a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Sorensen Institute went into development on a unique Candidate Training Program beginning in 1997. The guiding premise was to create a program that would teach new political candidates how to run and win an ethical, positive campaign. The first Candidate Training Program was held in Charlottesville in 1999. Since that time the program has proved to be incredibly successful. CTP graduates have put what they have learned at Sorensen to work and have as a result won seats in the Virginia General Assembly and in local governments across the Commonwealth. The Sorensen CTP has provided the model for replication in Georgia, South Carolina, Ohio, and Florida and elsewhere.

Past Executive Directors

Bill Wood served as the founding Executive Director of the Sorensen Institute from 1993 until the summer of 2005. A well-known and widely respected journalist, Bill spent 26 years in the newspaper business before coming to Sorensen—the last 10 as editorial-page editor for The Virginian Pilot in Norfolk. As a reporter and editor, he covered the Virginia General Assembly for two decades. The success of the Sorensen Institute owes so much to Bill's leadership. His personal reputation for fairness, ethics, and keen intellect—not to mention a wonderful sense of humor—lent instant credibility and vitality to an organization whose long-term viability some Virginians doubted. While at the University of Virginia, Bill also edited the Virginia Newsletter and was the Director of the Publications Division of the Cooper Center. He retired from UVA in 2007. 

Sean O'Brien came to the Sorensen Institute in 2002 to run the Candidate Training Program. He later served as Deputy Director and eventually succeeded Bill Wood as Executive Director in 2005. Sean earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia in 1994. He has pursued several unusual opportunities for a scientist, including working as the Finance Director of a Congressional campaign and working as an apprentice in an investment banking firm. Sean also conducted research in ecology as a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University. Sean left the Sorensen Institute in January of 2008 to become the Executive Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier. Among Sean's many contributions to the success of the organization, he is credited with greatly raising the visibility of the Sorensen Institute across Virginia and for broadening and enriching its programs.

Trust, Civility and Respect in Politics