Robert A. "Bob" Weygand (born May 10, 1948) is an American politician. He was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1997 until 2001. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Life and career

Weygand was born in

Attleboro, Massachusetts Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461. Attleboro is ...

, to Charles E. Weygand and Lillian M. (Kingsley) Weygand. He attended

St. Raphael Academy Saint Raphael Academy (known colloquially as Saint Ray's, or simply, Saints) is a Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. It was founded in the tradition of Saint John Baptist de Lasalle and roo ...

for his high school years, attended the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

where he became a member of

Theta Chi Fraternity Theta Chi () is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across Nort ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

Theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

in 1971, a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Civil and Environmental Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

in 1976, a Master of Arts in Political Science in 2009 and a Masters of Public Administration in 2010 all from the University of Rhode Island. A

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

for the Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources from 1973 to 1977, a city planner and landscape architect for an architectural firm from 1977 to 1982, he founded and was president of Weygand, Orchich, & Christie, Inc., an architectural and landscape architectural firm from 1982 to 1993. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1998. In 1991, Weygand, then a state legislator, was offered a $2,000 bribe by then- Pawtucket Mayor Brian J. Sarault. Weygand went to the

Rhode Island State Police The Rhode Island State Police (RISP) is an agency of the US state of Rhode Island responsible for statewide law enforcement and regulation, especially in areas underserved by local police agencies and on the state's limited-access highways. Its h ...

and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and agreed to deal with the mayor and provide evidence of the bribe. Wearing the listening equipment, Weygand met with Sarault in the mayor's office. After Weygand left, FBI agents burst in and arrested the mayor. The evidence Weygand provided helped send the mayor, several other city officials and private vendors to prison. Weygand served as chairman of the East Providence Planning Board from 1978 to 1984, a member of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected t ...

from 1985 to 1993, and as the 65th

Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island The current lieutenant governor of Rhode Island is Sabina Matos, who was sworn in on April 14, 2021, after Daniel McKee succeeded to the office of governor. The first lieutenant governor was George Brown. In Rhode Island, the lieutenant gover ...

from 1993 to 1997. In 1996, he was elected to an open seat in Congress that was being vacated by incoming Senator Jack Reed. Weygand did not seek re-election to the

in 2000, opting to challenge

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a m ...

. Weygand, an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, lost the election to Chafee, who enjoyed popularity among Rhode Island Democrats as one of the most liberal Republicans elected to national office. In 2001, Weygand was appointed President of the

New England Board of Higher Education The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) is an interstate compact that was founded in 1955, by six New England governors. NEBHE was approved by New England’s six state legislatures and authorized by the U.S. Congress. NEBHE serves t ...

in Boston. In 2004, he stepped down at NEBHE to take a new position as Vice President for Administration at the

. In 2013, Weygand stepped down from the administration to take a faculty position as the director of th
University of Rhode Island MPA program

References and external links

Weygand leaving URI post with $51,707 payment for unused vacation days
providencejournal.com; accessed April 18, 2018.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weygand, Robert 1948 births American landscape architects Lieutenant Governors of Rhode Island Living people Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives University of Rhode Island alumni University of Rhode Island faculty Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island 20th-century American politicians