Dr. Paul Isely is currently the associate dean of the Seidman College of Business.  He had been chair of the Economics Department from 2009 until January 2015. He joined the GVSU faculty in 1995, after earning his Ph.D. in Economics from Purdue University. He also holds an M.S. in Economics from Purdue University and a dual B.S. in Physics and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Isely has taught many different courses at GVSU including: Environmental Economics which looks at sustainable and efficient resource usage; Business Cycles and Growth which studies the national and regional economies;  and Economics Capstone which teaches modeling by using housing data from West Michigan.  His academic research builds from these classes and focuses on the benefits of innovation.

Dr. Isely’s research interests have also led to many local articles and reports. These articles have explored West Michigan’s economy and its relationship to the National and State Economies.    Recent studies resulted in reports on the state of Entrepreneurship and Healthcare in West Michigan.  In addition, Dr. Isely has worked on reports evaluating wind power along the lakeshore and valuing environmental cleanup in Muskegon Lake, these studies were funded by Sea Grant and NOAA respectively.

Dr. Isely has been interviewed extensively by TV, radio, and newspapers on the West Michigan economy.  Over the past few years these interviews included not only local media, but also NPR, USA today, and the AP wire.