April 22, 2022
The Hon. Maureen McKenna Goldberg, J.D. ’73, ’09Hon.
Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court
Keynote Speaker, Graduate and School of Continuing Education Commencement
The Hon. Maureen McKenna Goldberg, J.D. ’73, ’09Hon. has been a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the state’s highest court, for 25 years.
Justice Goldberg was born in Pawtucket, R.I., and grew up in a family of seven children in East Providence. Following her graduation from St. Mary Academy Bay View, she enrolled at Salve Regina University, then transferred to PC when it began accepting women as undergraduates in 1971. She studied secondary education-history, graduating cum laude in 1973. She then taught reading and social studies to third and fourth graders at Bishop McVinney Elementary School in Providence.
Justice Goldberg left teaching to attend Suffolk University Law School, earning her doctor of law degree with honors in 1978. She worked as a prosecutor for R.I. Attorney General Dennis Roberts. In less than two years, she was one of two women appointed assistant attorney general, a first for the state. She later became administrator in the criminal division. After her service in state government, she worked in private law practice. She served as town solicitor in South Kingstown and in Westerly, where she also was interim town manager, and as special counsel to the Rhode Island State Police. Gov. Edward D. DiPrete appointed her a justice in the Rhode Island Superior Court in 1990. In 1997, she was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Lincoln C. Almond, becoming the third woman to serve on that court. The state’s highest court, it consists of a chief justice and four associate justices, all of whom serve lifetime appointments.
Justice Goldberg has served on the board of directors of the Rhode Island Foundation, St. Mary Academy Bay View, and Phoenix Houses of New England. She received an honorary doctor of laws degree from PC in 2009. She also has been awarded honorary degrees from Suffolk University, Roger Williams University Law School, Johnson & Wales University, and Bryant University. In November 2021, Justice Goldberg returned to PC to join her classmate, Karen Holland ’73, ’84G, ’96Ph.D., in a panel discussion hosted by the Department of History and Classics as part of the college’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of women.
Justice Goldberg and her husband, Robert Goldberg, a former Rhode Island state senator and Senate minority leader, reside in Matunuck, R.I.
