Victoria Lederberg (July 7, 1937 – December 29, 2002) was a justice of the

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial No ...

from 1993 to 2002. Before her appointment, Lederberg was 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 1974 to 1983 and the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

from 1985 to 1991. In 2003, she was posthumously inducted into the

Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame was established in the State of Rhode Island in 1965. Its mission statement states that the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame "exists to honor and recognize, and to extol and publicize the achievements of th ...

Early life and education

Lederberg was born on July 7, 1937 in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, US. She graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1966 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

in 1976.

Career

In 1968, Lederberg began her career as a psychology professor at

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Providence, Rhode Island. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown Uni ...

. She became a member of the

in 1974 and became a lawyer in 1976. As a politician, Lederberg remained with the House of Representatives until 1983. She was elected to the

in 1985 and was with the Senate until 1991. For her judicial career, Lederberg worked for the Providence Municipal Court before being named to the

in 1993. Apart from her tenures, Lederberg ran for

Secretary of State of Rhode Island The secretary of state of Rhode Island is an elected office in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of 2015, the current secretary of state is Nellie Gorbea. The Rhode Island Department of State or is composed of five separate divisions: *The Ele ...

in 1982 but lost to

Susan Farmer Susan L. (née Lawson) Farmer (May 29, 1942 – September 16, 2013) was an American politician, media executive and television personality. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she went to Garland Junior College and Brown University Extension Divi ...

. In 1990, Lederberg was one of the candidates running for mayor of Providence. Before the Democratic primary in Rhode Island, she participated in a competition where she and the other candidates became mayor of a virtual version of Providence in ''

SimCity ''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim' ...

''. During her play session, Lederberg converted a power plant from conventional fuel to nuclear, built numerous police stations and accidentally demolished a church. At the 1990 primary, Lederberg lost to Andrew Annaldo after an

election recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

was made.

Awards and honors

Lederberg was posthumously inducted into the

in 2003.Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame
page on Victoria Lederberg.

Personal life and death

Lederberg was married and had two children. She died on December 29, 2002, in Providence from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lederberg, Victoria 1937 births 2002 deaths Lawyers from Providence, Rhode Island Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Rhode Island College faculty Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Rhode Island state senators Brown University alumni Suffolk University Law School alumni Women state legislators in Rhode Island 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women politicians American women academics 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges