The Honorable L.F. Payne

The Honorable L. F. Payne Jr. earned his M.B.A from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 1973 after having earned a B.A. in civil engineering from the Virginia Military Institute in 1967. Mr. Payne is a Virginia native with experience in politics, business, engineering, and the military.

Mr. Payne is the current president of Three Ridges Group, which is a real estate development company he founded in 2020.  Prior, he was the co-founder and president of McGuireWoods Consulting, a national Public Affairs firm and a subsidiary of the prestigious McGuireWoods law firm.  He is currently the President of the United States Association of Former Members of Congress (the alumni association of the US Congress).

In 1988, L.F. Payne was elected to represent Virginia’s 5th district in the United States House of Representatives, during a special election due to a new vacancy.  Mr. Payne was then re-elected to serve the district, which encompasses Charlottesville, for the next four terms until 1997.  He served on the Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Before his Congressional Service, he was the builder of Wintergreen Resort, where he was both chairman and president.  He also has experience as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

He has served on the University’s Board of Visitors previously, appointed by former Governors Warner and Kaine for the period of 2003 to 2011, and has now been reappointed by Governor Ralph Northam in 2021.