The Honorable Frank J. Williams was an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island from 1995 until 2001 and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 2001 until his retirement in 2008. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court he served as an associate justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court and, before that, as attorney in private practice. He is the founding chair of the Lincoln Forum and served on the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.