An asteroid has been officially named for American geologist Sorena Sorensen ’78 (1956-2025). A longtime curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Sorensen was an expert on metamorphic petrology and geochemistry who studied the formation of jade and jadeite and the role of fluids in subduction zones.
The asteroid—now named 250955 Sorena—was discovered in 2006 by the Mount Lemmon Survey. It belongs to a group of asteroids found in the outer main asteroid belt and has a diameter of 4.9 km. It is currently passing through the Virgo constellation, heading toward Libra at the end of 2026.