Pamplin dean appointed to Government Accountability Office advisory panel
Richard E. Sorensen, dean of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business, has been appointed to serve on a panel of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Sorensen, who was invited to participate on the Educators’ Advisory Panel by GAO head, U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, will serve for a three-year term.
“The panel’s primary purpose is to establish long-term, multi-dimensional, and mutually beneficial working relationships between GAO and leading deans, professors, and selected others,” Walker noted in his letter to Sorensen. The panel will provide advice “on making GAO a model for the federal government, including strategies, best practices, operations, and emerging human capital issues and trends related to recruitment, hiring, development, and retention of a diverse, talented, dedicated, and results-oriented workforce.” The panel meets annually; members may also be asked for input on issues between meetings.
A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Sorensen received a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now Polytechnic University) and an master’s degree and a Ph.D. from New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business. He has been dean of the Pamplin College since July 1982 and is the immediate past chair of the board of directors of AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accrediting agency for degree programs in business administration and accounting.
GAO, commonly called the investigative arm of Congress or the congressional watchdog, is independent and nonpartisan, its website notes. The office studies how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars and advises Congress and the heads of executive agencies (such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, and Health and Human Services) on ways to make government more effective and responsive. GAO evaluates federal programs, audits federal expenditures, and issues legal opinions.
Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (BAD ’33), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (BAD ’64).
