Sundlun, Bruce G. (Bruce George), 1920-2011

Dates:

Birth 1920-01-19

Death 2011-07-21

Gender:

Male

Nationality: Americans

Language: English

Biographical notes:

Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 71st Governor of Rhode Island between 1991 and 1995. He was the state's first Jewish governor.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he attended the Gordon School, Classical High School and the Tabor Academy before undertaking collerge studies at Williams College. On December 8, 1941, Sundlun interrupted his studies to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces. During overseas active duty beginning in June 1943, Sundlun served as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot in the England-based 545th Bombardment Squadron, 384th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force at Grafton-Underwood Air Base. In August 1945, Sundlun attained the rank of captain, and left active service at the end of the war. Despite ending his active service in 1945, he remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and rose through the officer ranks until he retired as a colonel in 1980.

Returning stateside, Sundlun earned his B.A. from Williams College and went on to Harvard Law School where he earned an LL.B. From 1949 to 1972, Sundlun was a practicing attorney. In 1949, he was appointed by Attorney General J. Howard McGrath to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C., and later served as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. From 1954 to 1972, he was in private law practice in both Washington, D.C. and Providence, with the law firms of Amram, Hahn, and Sundlun and Sundlun, Tirana and Scher. Sundlun was active as a businessman from the 1960s through the 1990s. He was a pioneer in the jet charter industry in 1964 by being one of the founding members on the board of directors of Executive Jet Aviation (EJA). From 1976 to 1988, Sundlun was president and chief executive officer of The Outlet Company, a department store and broadcast communications company in Providence.

After falling short in his 1986 and 1988 bids to become Governor of Rhode Island, Sundlun was successful on his third try. During Sundlun's two terms as governor, he took particular interest in expanding Rhode Island as a destination for conventions and tourism by championing the building the Rhode Island Convention Center. He created the Rhode Island Airport Corporation as an entity to revitalize and operate Rhode Island's state airports, and he was responsible for a complete redesign and rebuild of the passenger terminal and airport approach roads at T. F. Green Airport in Warwick. In 1992, he aided in the establishment of the Quonset Air Museum at the Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown. He was also responsible for building the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, and the Jamestown Expressway, as well as arranging the financing of Providence Place Mall, and the relocation of the Woonasquatucket River to permit the construction of Waterplace Park and the Citizens Bank Building in downtown Providence. Sundlun was defeated in the 1994 Democratic gubernatorial primary by Myrth York.

Sundlun died on July 21, 2011, aged 91, at his home in Jamestown, Rhode Island. He was accorded full state and military honors prior to and at his funeral and burial on July 24, 2011. He was buried at Temple Beth El Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.