An Emeritus Professor in Entomology at North Carolina State University, Dr. Kenneth Alan Sorensen

was born on August 11, 1944 to parents, Christian and Helen Sorensen.  Dr. Sorensen attended Coventry High School from 1958-1962, following a college preparatory program while qualifying as a member of the Rhode Island Honor Society. A member of the social committee for the senior class, he enrolled in Future Farmers of America and took classes, did summer projects on Irish potato production, raised Cornish chickens for meat production and became a honeybee keeper.  With Vocational Agriculture Teacher John Ball’s guidance, he became a member of the RI Beekeepers Association and joined Anthony Grange, took seven Degrees and was Assistant Steward.  He also exhibited honey, potatoes and other items at Rocky Hill State Fair and at the Eastern State Exposition, receiving several ribbons and cash awards.  In addition, he was a member of the seed identification team, an alternate on dairy judging team, and did public speaking.  Other activities included serving as a member and driver in the Washington Fire Department, delivering newspapers for 4 years, mowed lawns, and worked as a beamer in a lace mill. He also was a boy scout, attended Washington Methodist Church.

     In 1962, Dr. Sorensen was accepted to URI and was Assistant Bee Inspector for the State of RI for 3 summers. He majored in Agricultural Education and student taught at Scituate High School in his senior year. With money from honey sales and other jobs along with scholarships (Sears Roebuck, RI Fruit Growers, RI Grange), he was able to pay for tuition and books. In addition, he received the Freshman and Junior Summer Danforth Fellowships and attended the American Youth Leadership Development Program in St. Louis and American Youth Foundation Camp in Michigan.

      A dedicated professional with a strong commitment to family, church, leadership and community service, he obtained a BS degree in Agricultural Teaching from URI in 1966 and then earned his MS and PhD degrees in Entomology (1968 and 1970) from Kansas State University where his research on the buffalograss webworm made him an authority on this turf insect. 

    Dr. Sorensen continued on with an outstanding professional career at North Carolina State University as an Assistant, Associate, Full and Emeritus Professor in Entomology for 36 years working in research, teaching, and with the cooperative extension service in Horticultural Entomology. At NCSU he conducted IPM programs with emphasis on sweet potatoes, where he developed a weevil trapping system that is used throughout the world and has saved millions of dollars by preventing and overcoming unnecessary quarantines. He cooperated with colleagues in the southeast on SP weevil collections and with DNA fingerprinting and helped procure IPM/ RAMP grants amounting to over $2 million dollars for research on soil insect management. The creator (1977) and editor (1977-1982) of ESA Arthropod Management Tests, Dr. Sorensen contributed over 90 reports and list more than 300 publications. 

        In retirement, he has provided leadership to the ESA Senior Entomologist group, networking with annual symposia since 2009. In addition, he served as Visiting Professor at Rutgers Univ. and with UFl 3 times for 4 months working on vegetable and strawberry insect biology and monitoring, on effective use of predatory mites and resistance to insecticides. 

       Dr. Sorensen is married to Joyce Sorensen and has 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren all living in NC.  His remarkable accomplishments for the betterment of our world serve as an inspiration to the current and future students of Coventry High School.