Victoria Lederberg papers (MSS-0139)

Biographical/Historical Note

Born Victoria Santopietro in Providence, Rhode Island on July 7, 1937, Lederberg attended Classical High School from 1951-1955. She went to Brown University where she received an A.B in Biology (1959), an A.M in Biology (1961), and a PhD in Psychology (1966). In 1976, she received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. In 1959, she married Seymour Lederberg, and the couple had two children born in 1964 and 1967.

In 1968, Victoria Lederberg began working as an Associate Professor of Psychology at Rhode Island College and later became a Professor of Psychology in 1978. From 1974-1983, she was a state representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly and later was elected to the Rhode Island Senate in 1985, serving until 1991. In 1982, she ran for Secretary of State of Rhode Island, however she lost to Susan Farmer. In 1990, Lederberg was one of the candidates running for mayor of Providence, bust lost in the primary to Andrew Annaldo. From 1977-1989, she worked as an attorney with Licht & Semonoff before starting a private practice in 1989. Lederberg also served as a judge in the Providence Municipal Court from 1991-1993, before becoming a member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in May of 1993. Victoria Lederberg died in 2002.