Definitely some very unexpected news this evening regarding former UA president Andrew Sorensen. From Cecil Hurt:
More from the Columbus Dispatch:
OSU President E. Gordon Gee said Sorensen was one of the country's most distinguished leaders in academic America and OSU was fortunate to have him.
"He was a remarkable person who had a very distinguished career," said Gee. "His seniority and knowledge is a real loss to the university."
Sorensen began his career in higher-education administration in 1983 as public-health dean at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1986, he became executive director of the AIDS Institute at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. In 1990, he joined the University of Florida as provost and vice president for academic affairs. He was named president of the University of Alabama in 1996 and president of the University of South Carolina in 2002.
Admittedly this one comes completely out of left field. If Sorensen had been experiencing any health problems in recent months, personally I had not heard anything of them. He left South Carolina after a tenure of many years, and took a job as the chief chair of fundraising for Ohio State roughly six months ago. By all accounts he seemed to be doing well, so this news comes as a big surprise.
In any event, this one makes for a bit of a sad day. Sorensen's handling of the UA football program was an absolute disaster in every way imaginable, but admittedly he did many good things on the academic side, and this is obviously something no one wanted to hear.