State Senator and Republican Party leader Robert Pierce Knowles was born in River Falls, Wisconsin on February 25, 1916, the younger son of Judge Warren P. and Anna D. Knowles. After graduating from local schools he attended River Falls State Teachers College, graduating in 1938 with a B.S. degree in history. After graduation Knowles worked as a salesman and insurance agency manager. In 1941 he married Madelyn Lucille Ullrich (1919-). The couple became the parents of four children: Barbara Nelson (1942-), Robert Jr. (1945-), Warren Patrick (1949-), and Terrance C. (1950-).
While attending college Knowles served in the Wisconsin National Guard. During World War II he flew 33 combat missions as an Army Air Force bomber pilot in the European theatre. For his service Knowles received the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Knowles was first elected to the Senate in 1955 in a special election after his brother Warren Knowles, who had previously held that seat, was elected lieutenant governor. Thereafter, Knowles was elected to five consecutive four-year terms. During the course of his tenure in the Senate, Knowles held virtually every leadership post including majority leader (1963-1967) and president pro tem of the Senate (1967-1975), as well as key assignments on the Joint Finance Committee and the Legislative Council.
Robert Knowles was well known for his leadership in national legislative reform and inter-governmental relations. He was a founder and president of the National Conference of State Legislative Leaders, and he was active in forming the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 1969 President Nixon appointed Knowles one of three legislators on the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations; he continued in this post until 1977. In 1974 Knowles was one of three legislators recognized for outstanding service by the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures. In Wisconsin Knowles' interest in improved legislative operations was evident in his work on the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization.
Knowles helped to direct physical arrangements for four Republican national conventions. In 1972 as executive secretary of arrangements, Knowles became the center of controversy when a memo critical of the Committee for the Re-election of the President that he had authored was leaked to the press.
Unsuccessful in his attempt at re-election in 1976, Knowles returned to New Richmond. He served on the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin from 1980 to 1985, and from 1982 to 1984 he was president of the board. Robert Knowles died on November 3, 1985.
