Sorenson honored by U. business school

The University of Utah has honored James Lee Sorenson, chief executive officer at Sorenson Media, as the first recipient of the David Eccles School of Business Entrepreneurial Achievement Award.

The award honors alumni for their abilities in demonstrating spirit, achievement and initiative in the creation of a start-up enterprise.

Salt Lake-based Sorenson Media is a video compression technology company whose innovative encoding and decoding tools have improved the video quality played in both the Apple QuickTime and Macromedia Flash media players.

The company also developed the SVX video communications processor, reference designs and software for a videophone now produced by D-Link.

In addition to being CEO at Sorenson Media, Sorenson is also vice chairman at Sorenson Development Inc., chairman of the board at DataChem Laboratories and CEO at Sorenson Medical. He also leads the development of business parks and major mixed-use developments, including Rosecrest and Jordanelle Ridge. His latest project is Sorenson Capital, a venture fund that focuses on small to mid-sized, generally underserved markets.