Member, Senate, representing Caroline County and District 15 (Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot counties), 1959-70. Member, Aviation, Roads and Transportation Committee, 1959-62; Elections Committee, 1959-62 (vice-chair, 1961-62); Public Buildings Committee, 1959-62 (vice-chair, 1961-62); Maryland Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission, 1959-64, 1967-70; Legislative Council, 1961, 1965-70. Chair, Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Matters, 1962-64 (member, 1962-65). Chair, Executive Nominations Committee, 1963-64. Vice-Chair, Education Committee 1963-64. Chair, Special Legislative Committee on State-Local Fiscal Relations, 1965. Member, Rules Committee, 1965-68 (vice-chair, 1968-70). Chair, Finance Committee, 1965-70 (member, 1959-62; vice-chair, 1963-64). Majority Leader, 1965-70. Member, Joint Committee on Organization and Procedure, 1966. Chair, Joint Legislative-Executive Committee to Study Taxation and Fiscal Problems, 1967. Chair, Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 1968-69. Chair, Joint Budget and Audit Committee, 1968-70.
Member, Committee on More Equitable Representation in the General Assembly, 1959; Governor's Commission on City-County Fiscal Relationships, 1959-63; Governor's Commission to Study Reapportionment, 1962; Commission to Study Changes and Basis of Selection for Patuxent Institution, 1964-. Chair, Governor's Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Reform, 1966-67. Chair, Taxation and Fiscal Reform Problems Study Commission, 1967. Chair Legislative Liaison Committee for the Constitutional Convention, 1967.
Secretary of Transportation, 1970-77. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 1970-77; Maryland Highway Safety Coordinating Committee, 1970-77; Regional Planning Council, 1970-77; Friendship International Airport Authority, 1970-77; Washington Suburban Transit Commission, 1970-77; Emergency Resource Priorities Board, 1970-77. Chair, Maryland Transportation Authority, 1970-77. Member, Chesapeake Bay Interagency Committee, c. 1973. Chair, State Aviation System Plan Policy Committee, 1973. Member, Commission to Review Maryland's Procedures for Awarding Noncompetitive State Contracts, 1973.
Governor of Maryland, January 1979 to January 1987. Chair, Emergency Resources Priorities Board, 1979-81; Board of Public Works, 1979-87; State Commission on the Capitol City, 1979-87; Maryland Council on the Economy, Environment, and Energy Production, 1979-87; Maryland Environmental Trust, 1979-87; State House Trust, 1979-87; Maryland Veterans Home Commission, 1979-87. Member, Appalachian Regional Commission, 1979-87; Maryland Historical Trust, 1979-87; Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, 1979-87; Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 1979-87; Interstate Oil Compact Commission, 1979-87; Interstate Mining Commission, 1979-87. Chair, Maryland Highway Safety Coordinating Committee, 1979-87. Member, Maryland Education Council, 1979-87; Southern Regional Education Board, 1979-87.
Member, Chesapeake Bay Trust, 1995-2003. Board of Regents, University System of Maryland, 1996-2000. Chair, Blue Ribbon Citizens Pfiesteria Commission, 1997. Chair, Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission, 1999-2003. Member, Committee to Establish the Maryland Survivors Scholarship Fund, 2001-02.
Born in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, November 13, 1926. Attended Caroline County public schools; Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Served in U.S. Navy Air Corps, WWII (Navy V-5 & aviation cadet training). Mt. St. Mary's College; University of Maryland, B.S., 1949; George Washington University School of Law, LL.B., 1952. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1952. Attorney. Member, American, Maryland State and Caroline County Bar Associations. Chair, Democratic State Central Committee, 1966-70. Delegate, Democratic Party National Convention, 1996. Member, Rotary; American Legion. Married to the former Patricia Donoho; two daughters.
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