Dr. Robert J. McKenna, 1931-2012, a native of Providence, was Mayor of the City of Newport, as well as having been a Professor of Politics and Assistant to the President of Salve Regina University. He engaged in more than three decades of public service as both a State Senator and Representative, aide to the late U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell, and served the U.S. Army Intelligence as a Russian linguist. He served as President of the Higher Education Association and the League of Cities and Towns, among a myriad of other accomplishments.