Paul Bryant Jr

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Paul William Bryant, Jr (born 1944 in Birmingham) is a Tuscaloosa businessman and chairman of the Crimson Tide Foundation. He was appointed to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2000.

Bryant was the son of legendary college football coach Bear Bryant and his wife, Mary. He was born in Birmingham while his father was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, but grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and College Station, Texas. He played youth football as a boy, but contracted hepatitis, which required nearly a year of recuperation and left him physically weakened. He spent time with his father when he was coaching the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, hoping to follow in his footsteps. He was on the roster of Tom Tarleton's basketball team at Tuscaloosa High School, but was limited in playing time due to his weakened constitution. During the summer he was assigned a car and worked full time as a recruiter for the Crimson Tide.

Bryant's hepatitis prevented him from participating in officer training programs and earned him a deferral from the draft. He enrolled at the University of Alabama and earned a finance degree in 1966. With the contacts he had made through his father and with many of his classmates serving in Viet Nam, Bryant's business career had a head start. He was hired by Charlie Finley as general manager of the Birmingham A's. While still in his 20s, he helped organized the Peoples Bank of Tuscaloosa, which merged into AmSouth Bank in the early 1980s. He diversified into other business investments, including greyhound race tracks such as Greene County's GreeneTrack. He returned to banking in 2005 when he founded Bryant Bank, which has been recognized for its role in financing rebuilding in Tuscaloosa following the April 2011 tornado outbreak.

Bryant was nominated by Governor Don Siegelman for a seat on the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2000. Some in the Alabama House of Representatives opposed the nomination, citing under-representation of trustees with ties to UAB and controversial comments attributed to Bryant in a 1989 article in Esquire. With the nomination still up in the air, Frank Bromberg resigned his seat, allowing the board to appoint Bryant without legislative approval. He was elected president pro tempore in 2011.

Bryant has also served as chairman of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

References

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