Born in 1945, he is a native of Pittsburgh and holds a BS degree in management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree in industrial administration from Carnegie-Mellon University. He began his career in 1968 in the Mon Valley operations of U. S. Steel. Later, he served on the company's financial, international and resource development staffs before being appointed vice president-commercial for U. S. Steel Mining Company in 1982. Dorrance became manager of plate products for U. S. Steel in 1985. He was appointed vice president of U. S. Steel International, Inc. in 1989. He was elected president of USX Engineers and Consultants, Inc. in 1992. He was named vice president-purchasing and technology in 1994 and appointed vice president-operations in 1995. In 1997, Dorrance assumed responsibility for production, sales and marketing of U. S. Steel's sheet products business as executive vice president. In January 2001, Dorrance was named to his current position of executive vice president with responsibility for new business development. He is a member of the Association of Iron & Steel Engineers and a member of the board of directors of the Winchester Thurston School and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.