Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. is the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island and US Ambassador to Malta. He was previously the former Director of the RI Department of Economic Development and currently serves as a managing partner for Paolino Properties. As a student at the Harvard Extension School he was graduate student speaker at the commencement ceremonies in 1989. He was elected to the Providence City Council in 1978 and was re-elected in 1982. He was serving as City Council Chairman when incumbent Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. was removed from office after pleading no contest to felony charges and given a five year suspended sentence. With Cianci's removal from office, Paolino became acting mayor at the age of 29 and ran in the special election to succeed Cianci. He won the special election and was re-elected in 1986 and served until January 1991. In 1990, Paolino ran for Governor of Rhode Island, but lost to Bruce Sundlun in the Democratic Primary. In 1994 he was appointed by President Bill Clinton as Ambassador to Malta. He served as ambassador from July 6, 1994 to June 2, 1996. He ran for mayor again in 2002 but lost to David N. Cicilline in the Democratic primaries. [More at Wikipedia]

April 26th, 1955 in (Age 69)