Charles Emil Sorensen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1881. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1885 and settled in Detroit, Michigan in 1900. Sorensen by-passed high school, becoming an apprentice pattern maker while taking drafting classes at night. In 1904, Sorensen met Henry Ford while making patterns for Ford at an engineering design firm in Detroit and accepted a position as an assistant in the Piquette Avenue pattern shop. Through an almost maniacal work ethic and the ability to translate Henry Ford's ideas into three-dimensional wood patterns, Sorensen quickly rose to become an assistant superintendent of production, first at Piquette and then the Highland Park Plant. In 1915, Sorensen assumed the position of superintendent of tractor production for the newly established Henry Ford and Son, Inc. In 1919, Sorensen returned to Ford Motor Company and assumed responsibility for production and manufacturing operations and administration at the growing Rouge River Plant. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Sorensen assumed greater responsibilities and control over virtually every aspect of Ford Motor Company's production of automobiles, trucks, tractors, and aircraft. In addition to overseeing production, Sorensen directed operations at Ford plants and sales branches across the United States. As a member of various boards of directors of Ford subsidiaries and associated companies, Sorensen also directed operations at foreign plants. Sorensen's crowning achievement was the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Willow Run, Michigan where he was instrumental in designing, building, staffing, and tooling an aircraft plant that would ultimately produce 8,000 B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. Sorensen left Ford Motor Company in 1944 and moved to Willys-Overland in Toledo, Ohio, where he was president and eventually vice chaiman of the board. Sorensen retired to Florida in 1953 where lived until his death in August 1968.
From the description of Charles E. Sorensen records series, 1913-1946 (bulk 1924-1944). (The Henry Ford). WorldCat record id: 85892251
