Trammell is originally from Blountstown, Florida,[3] where he was a standout athlete, leading his basketball team to the state championship and being named High School All-American.
In 2001, he founded Trammell & Company, a Washington, D.C.–based public affairs firm, having previously been senior managing director for Hill & Knowlton.
[4][6] 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.
[4] He married Stuart Serkin, whom he met in 1977 while taking the Florida bar examination,[4] on October 29, 2013, at the United States Supreme Court.