Paul Trible

Trible graduated from Hampden–Sydney College in 1968 with a 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. He served as a law clerk for a federal judge from 1971 to 1972, and then as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia from 1972 to 1974.

In 1973, at age 26, Trible was elected as Commonwealth's Attorney for Essex County, Virginia, serving from 1974 to 1976. He was appointed to the Virginia Law Enforcement Officers Training and Standards Commission in 1976 and at age 29 in November was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning reelection in 1978 and 1980. In 1982, the 35-year-old Trible received the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Harry F. Byrd Jr., defeating Lieutenant Governor Dick Davis in the general election. After serving in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989, Trible declined to seek reelection in 1988. During the last year of his Senate term, he served simultaneously as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations. In 1989, Trible was the early favorite to capture the GOP nomination for governor; however, Marshall Coleman narrowly won the nomination and ultimately lost to Democrat Douglas Wilder. In 1989, between his retirement from the Senate, and his run for governor, Trible was a teaching fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. After his political career, Trible briefly returned to practicing law with Laxalt, Washington, Perito and Dubuc of Washington, D.C. and Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Giordano and Kahle, P.C. of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

On January 1, 1996, Trible became the fifth president of Christopher Newport University. The 35-year-old institution had recently achieved full university status and his arrival came at a time when the school was undergoing many changes as it evolved from a college to a university.

In late 2006, CNU’s Board of Visitors announced that a new library and a merit scholarship with a $500,000 endowment would be named in honor of President Trible and his wife in recognition of their leadership and contributions to the university. Trible also serves on the Council of Presidents of Virginia’s public colleges and universities, as well as Chair of the NCAA Division III President's Council.

He is married to Rosemary (Dunaway) Trible and they have two children, Mary Katherine, who is married to Dr. Barrett W. R. Peters; and Paul, CEO and co-founder of Ledbury, who is married to Brittany (Gordon) Trible. His father was Paul S. Trible Sr., the son of George Meredith and Clara (Seward) Trible. His mother was Katherine (Schilpp) Trible.

• Trible, Paul S. "Restoring the College Core" Richmond Times-Dispatch 2 Nov. 2014: F3.
• 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.

• United States Congress. "Paul Trible (id: T000367)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography at The Political Graveyard
• Biography at Christopher Newport University
• The Paul and Rosemary Trible Library at Christopher Newport University
• Appearances on C-SPAN