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

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, BRUCE G. SUNDLUN was a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945 and rose to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. During his military career he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Cluster, the Purple Heart, Chavalier, Legion l’Honneur (France), and the Prime Minister’s Medal (Israel). He earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 1946 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1949. Sundlun served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1949 to 1951 and as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General in the Civil Division of the Justice Department from 1951 to 1954. For the following two decades he was in private practice in both Washington, DC and Providence. He went on to become President of Outlet Communications from 1976 to 1984 and the company’s chair from 1984 to 1988. Sundlun was a member of the Providence School Board from 1984 to 1990, a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention of 1986, and a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions. Soon after he had taken the oath of office as governor, the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation (RISDIC)—insurer of Rhode Island’s chartered credit unions—failed, threatening a banking disaster. Sundlun quickly issued an executive order closing all institutions that had been insured by RISDIC, some of whose officials were ultimately implicated in the failure, and focused with other state officials on addressing fallout from the crisis. The resulting legislation established the Depositors Economic Protection Corporation to take over the assets of failed credit unions and to use the available proceeds, plus borrowed state money, to make the depositors whole. After leaving office, Sundlun went on to teach history at the University of Rhode Island. Sundlun died on July 21, 2011.

<p>Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as 71st Governor of Rhode Island between 1991 and 1995.</p>

<p>He was Rhode Island's second Jewish governor, and the only Jewish governor in the United States during his two terms. In addition to politics, Sundlun had a varied career as a military pilot, federal attorney, practicing lawyer, corporate executive and university lecturer.</p>

<p>Sundlun was born in Providence on January 19, 1920, to Walter Irving Sundlun and Jennette "Jan" Zelda (née Colitz) Sundlun. His grandparents were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants.</p>