Paul V. Gump was born March 24, 1920 in Spokane, Washington. He received his Bachelors Degree from Ohio State University in Social Studies in 1943. Gump continued his studies at Ohio State University and received his Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology in 1944; from 1944 until 1949, Gump spent much of his time teaching in school systems in Oregon and San Francisco. He later studied with the School of Social Work and the College of Education at Wayne State University from 1952-1959.

In 1955, Gump earned his doctoral degree from the University of Colorado in Clinical Psychology, and was an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in the Clinical and Educational Psychology Department from 1960-1962. In 1962 Dr. Gump joined the faculty of University of Kansas as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. He served as a Professor in the Department of Psychology from 1967-1990.

Gump's fields of major scientific interest included child psychology, adolescent psychology, and ecological psychology, in which he worked closely with Roger Barker and Herbert Wright. Gump was the Director of the Midwest Psychological Field Station in Oskaloosa, Kansas from 1968-1973.

Gump's published studies include Big School, Small School, co-authored by Roger Barker, which examines the relationship between school size and academic performance. Gump was a consultant to several organizations from 1972-1984 including the Ford Foundation, National Institutes of Mental Health, Psychology Services, Veterans Administration Center, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Gump was also very involved on the Oskaloosa City Council and in his Rotary Club.