Pamplin College dean elected chair of Plastic Packaging board

Richard E. Sorensen, dean of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business, has been elected chair of the board of directors of Plastic Packaging Inc., of Hickory, N.C.

Sorensen has served as a member of the company’s board since 1981. One of the leading flexible packaging companies in the United States, Plastic Packaging manufactures a variety of bags, pouches, and labels at its plants in North Carolina for the food, chemicals, textiles, home furnishings, pet and healthcare products, and other industries. The company won an environmental excellence award from the Flexographic Technical Association last year for developing a biodegradable film.

Sorensen’s service on other boards and state and local government committees includes serving on the board of Brad Ragan Inc. and chairing its audit committee before the company was sold to Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Sorensen was dean of the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University for nine years before he joined Virginia Tech in 1982. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Sorensen received his doctorate from New York University.