Paul S. Trible, Jr.

Paul Seward Trible, Jr. (born December 29, 1946) is a former Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Virginia and current president of Christopher Newport University. Trible graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1968 where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History. In 1971, he received a Juris Doctor degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law and was soon after admitted to the Virginia bar.

Life in public service

Political career

Trible served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court (1971–1972), as assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (1972–1974), and as the Commonwealth's Attorney for Essex County, Virginia (1974–1976) before winning an election as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976. He was successfully re-elected in 1978 and 1980, and in 1982 received the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Harry F. Byrd, Jr. In November 1982, he defeated Virginia Lt. Governor Richard Joseph Davis, Jr. to win the Senate seat. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989, refusing to stand for re-election in 1988 so that he may spend more time with his family. He re-entered politics the following year, running for governor in 1989. He was the early favorite to capture the GOP nomination for governor that year, but was challenged in the primary by former Virginia Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman who defeated Trible. In the latter parts of his political career, Trible served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations in 1988 and a Teaching Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1989.

Christopher Newport University

Trible is the fifth president in Christopher Newport University's 35-year history. He was appointed in January 1996, after representing Virginia in the United States Congress for 12 years. His appointment occurred three years after CNU received university status, and coincided with many necessary changes which mark the difference between a Community College and a State University.

In late 2006, CNU’s Board of Visitors announced that a new library and a $500,000 endowed merit scholarship will be named in honor of President Trible and his wife for their leadership and many contributions to the success of CNU. The Paul and Rosemary Trible Library includes more than 110,000 square feet (10,000 m²) housing 400,000 volumes and is to be a dynamic teaching and learning facility, as well as the information technology center of the campus. In addition to the University's own collection, a joint public/private partnership between CNU and The Mariners' Museum has made it possible for the library to also house the largest maritime collection in the western hemisphere. The Trible library was dedicated on January 24, 2008 and its 14-story cupola marks the heart of the CNU campus.

President Trible is on the Council of Presidents of Virginia’s public colleges and universities and serves as Chair on the NCAA Division III President's Council.

Personal life

He is married to Rosemary Dunaway Trible and they have two children, Mary Katherine Trible Peters (married to Barrett W. R. Peters), and Paul S. Trible, III.

Publications

• Trible, Paul. "Colleges Must Get Used to Collaborating With Congress" The Chronicle of Higher Education 15 Jul. 2005: B16.
• Trible, Paul. "Letting Colleges Down" The Washington Post 19 Apr. 2005: A12.

External links

• Paul S. Trible, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography at The Political Graveyard
• Biography at Christopher Newport University
• Christopher Newport University
  • The Paul and Rosemary Trible Library
  • Ferguson Center for the Arts