Jeffrey Bevis Trammell (born January 13, 1950) is an American public affairs consultant and higher education official. He has served as an advisor to U.S. presidential candidates and as Rector of the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
.
Early life
Trammell is originally from
Blountstown, Florida
Blountstown is a city in Calhoun County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,514 at the 2010 census, which represented an increase from 2,444 in 2000. It is the county seat of Calhoun County.
Name
Blountstown is named for John Blount ...
,
where he was a standout athlete, leading his basketball team to the state championship and being named High School All-American. He attended the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
on a
basketball scholarship. He served as captain of the
men's basketball team, and as a
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
in 1971–72 he was named to the all-
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...
second team. Trammell graduated in 1973 with a BA in history,
then received his J.D. from
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
in 1976.
Career
Trammell served on the staff of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
and
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
. Over the course of his career, Trammell has worked on the presidential campaigns of
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
,
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. In 2001, he founded Trammell & Company, a Washington, D.C. based public affairs firm, having previously been senior managing director for
Hill & Knowlton
Hill+Knowlton Strategies is an American global public relations consulting company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with over 80 offices in more than 40 countries. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927 by John W. Hil ...
.
Along with Congressman
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee ...
and attorney
Chad S. Johnson, he helped found the
National Stonewall Democrats
Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through individual chapters or political clubs ...
.
[ He chaired the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and served on the boards of the ]Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Gay and Lesbian Victims Remembrance Project.
From 2011 to 2013, Trammell served as the Rector (Chair) of the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary. He was initially appointed to the board in 2005 by Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...
and reappointed in 2009 by Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...
.[ He was the first openly gay board chair of a major public university in the country.][ As rector, Trammell led a reinvention of the university's financial model, called The William & Mary Promise, to protect its longterm future. He also was outspoken in his efforts to persuade the Virginia government to allow the state's public universities to provide benefits to same-sex partners of employees.
He served on the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments, the board of trustees of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities and on the board of advisors of the Institute of Human Virology of the University of Maryland Medical School. He also chairs the board of the Harriman Fellows which provides embassy internships for promising U.S. students of international diplomacy. He is on the editorial board of Trusteeship magazine, where he has published articles on the value of liberal arts and the challenges of LGBT diversity.
]
Personal life
Trammell is the great-nephew of Park Trammell
Park Monroe Trammell (April 9, 1876 – May 8, 1936), was an American attorney and politician from the state of Florida. Trammell represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1917 until his death in 1936. As chair of the Senate Naval Aff ...
, a Florida politician who served as governor and US senator.[ He married Stuart Serkin, whom he met in 1977 while taking the Florida ]bar examination
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...
,[ on October 29, 2013 at the ]United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
presided over his wedding. It is believed to be the second same-sex marriage performed in the Supreme Court building.[
]
References
External links
Trammell & Company official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trammell, Jeffrey
Florida Democrats
Living people
American lobbyists
American men's basketball players
American political consultants
Florida State University College of Law alumni
LGBT people from Florida
People from Blountstown, Florida
People from Washington, D.C.
Place of birth missing (living people)
William & Mary Tribe men's basketball players
1950 births
Gay sportsmen
American LGBT sportspeople
LGBT basketball players