Bruce Sundlun
American World War II pilot and politician (1920-2011)
Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as 71st governor of Rhode Island between 1991 and 1995.
He was Rhode Island's second Jewish governor, and the only Jewish governor in the United States during his tenure. In addition to politics, Sundlun had a varied career as a military pilot, federal attorney, practicing lawyer, corporate executive and university lecturer.
Early life and education
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.
Sundlun attended the Gordon School, Classical High School (Providence) and the Tabor Academy (Marion, Massachusetts). In 1933, while attending Boy Scout camp at Camp Yawgoog, he fell through ice on a pond and was rescued by a young John Chafee; and while in high school, he was a track star and excelled in long jump events.
Upon finishing college classes begun in 1938, he received a B.A. from Williams College in 1946 after serving during World War II in the United States Army Air Forces flying B-17 bombers in the 8th Air Force in England. He attended Harvard Law School, graduating with an LL.B. in 1949.
Military service
While still in college, Sundlun volunteered for service in the U.S. Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program on December 8, 1941, at Westover Field.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bruce Sundlun” is american World War II pilot and politician (1920-2011). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bruce, Sundlun and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q889320. VIAF identifies the subject as 34044680. The Library of Congress control number is no95052190. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1920, 2011, 1991 and 1995.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bruce Sundlun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.