Paul A. Nelson

Paul A. Nelson
Associate Professor of Economics and Engineering Management
School of Business and Economics
Michigan Technological University
E-Mail: pnelson@mtu.edu
Office: 125 Academic Offices Building
Address: 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931
Phone: (906) 487-2809
Fax: (906) 487-2944



Biographical Information

Paul A. Nelson earned a Ph.D. degree in the Industrial Organization field of Economics from the University of Wisconsin with subfields in Operations Research and Economic History. Prior to coming to Michigan Tech in 1972, he served as an Army field artillery officer, operations research analyst, and comptroller staff officer.

His current activities include the following:

  • Entrepreneurship
  • [CenTILE, SmartZone, BA5720 Entrepreneurship, Elevator Pitch Competition]
  • Politics
    [Advisor, MTU College Republicans]
  • Veterans Affairs
    [Chaplain, Post 186, American Legion]
  • Civil War History
    [Officer, Camp 266, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War]
  • Church Music
    [Cantor, Resurrection Catholic Church, Hancock]
  • Fine Arts
    [oil painting; baroque trumpet music]
  • Analytical Chemistry
    [soil, water, and mineral tests; radon tests]

Research Areas

Dr. Nelson is the Principal Investigator on the following research grants:

MTU Proposal #030207 (Feb. 3, 2003) Graduate Studies in Entrepreneurship, funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation through the Michigan Entrepreneurial Education Network, $30,000, with Dr. Edward Lumsdaine, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, and Dr. Dana Johnson and Dr. Brent Lekvin, SBE.

MTU Proposal #031225 (Dec. 14, 2003) Entrepreneurial Enterprise Using E-Teams at Michigan Technological University, funded by the Lemelson Foundation through the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, $31,950, with Dr. Edward Lumsdaine, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.  The grant continues through April 30, 2007.

Dr. Nelson is Co-Investigator on the following research grant:

MTU Proposal #04512 (Mar. 15, 2006) Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture in a Rural Setting, funded the National Science Foundation, $599,189 over three years, with Dr. Edward Lumsdaine, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Dr. David Reed, Provost and Vice President for Research, and others.

MTU Proposal #071208 (Dec. 3, 2007) Enhanced bio-Morphic Helmet, funded by the Lemelson Foundation through the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, $15,500, with Dr. Gopal Jayaraman, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

 

Dr. Nelson's research interests are in the justification and implementation of new technology. He has coauthored a book on institutional impediments to the adoption of geothermal energy technology. He has also studied the effectiveness of pooling agreements among electric utilities, and has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and to various state and local regulatory authorities.

His current interests include the following:

  • Facilitating the development of technology-based entrepreneurial business.
  • Economic analysis of the impact of competition and deregulation on retail prices of electric power.
  • Economic analysis natural gas incentive regulation.
  • Economic analysis of the impact of Powder River Basin coal mine mergers on electric utilities under deregulation.
  • Economic analysis of salary equity, compression, and inversion in an academic institution.
  • Development of basic data on horizontal flow rates of radon gas through aggregate media under various thermal and moisture environments.
  • Development of industrial applications for the MTU film thickness sensor (U.S. Patent No. 5,396,079) utilizing the technology team concept.

Teaching Areas

Fall 2007

BA5720 Entrepreneurship I

ENT2950/2960/3950/3960/4950/4960, Section L20, Entrepreneurial Enterprise

EC3400 Economic Decision Analysis, Section OC

Spring 2008

EC3300 Industrial Organization Economics

            EC3400 Economic Decision Analysis, Sections OA and OB

ENT2950/2960/3950/3960/4950/4960, Section L20, Entrepreneurial Enterprise

 

Fall 2008

EC 3300 Industrial Organization Economics

EC3400 Economic Decision Analysis

 

Spring 2009

EC3300 Industrial Organization Economics

EC3400 Economic Decision Analysis

EC4000 Senior Seminar in Economics

 

Current Publications and Papers

Nelson, Paul A., and Lumsdaine, Edward, "Creating an Entrepreneurial culture in an Engineering University", Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education, June 2008 (forthcoming)

Nelson, Paul A., and Monson, Terry, "GMAT Scores of Undergraduate Economics Majors", Journal of Economic Education, Summer 2008 (forthcoming).

Nelson, Paul A., and Monson, Terry, "Research Funding, Experience, and Seniority in Academic", Review of Applied Economics, Vol. 2, No. 1 (July 2006), pp. 99-109.

Nelson, Paul A., and Mark, Robert E., Business Management, Second Edition, MTU, 2006.

Roberts, Mark C., Nelson, Paul A., Gale, James R., Economic Decision Analysis, Third Edition, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2006.

Bierman, Sheldon L., and Nelson, Paul A., "Without Proper Controls, Consolidation Could Influence Performance in the Powder River Basin", Coal Age, August 2005.

Johnson, Dana M., and Nelson, Paul A., "Incorporating Strategic and Environmental Objectives in the Equipment Justification Process", Environmental Quality Management, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Autumn 2003), pp. 25-41.

Roberts, Mark C., Nelson, Paul A., Gale, James R., Economic Decision Analysis, Second Edition, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2003.

Nelson, Paul A., Business Management, MTU, 2003.

Bierman, Sheldon L., Nelson, Paul A., and Stover, David, "Anomalies in Residential Electric Rates: Harbinger of Competition?", Public Utilities Fortnightly. Vol. 137, No. 14 (July 15, 1999), pp. 40-47.

Bierman, Sheldon L., Nelson, Paul A., and Stover, David, "Gas Utilities After Retail Choice: Still a Need for Prudence Reviews?", Public Utilities Fortnightly, Vol. 137, No. 6 (March 15, 1999), pp. 40-47.

Jambekar, Anil B., and Nelson, Paul A., "Making Organizational Problems Visible Using Systems Tools", Production & Inventory Management Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (1999), pp. 17-25.

Michael, Rodney, and Nelson, Paul A., "A Labor-Based Explanation for Accounting Innovation in a Late Nineteenth Century American Corporation", The Accounting Historians Journal, Vol. 25, No. 1 (June 1998), pp. 93-114.

Jambekar, Anil B., and Nelson, Paul A., "Barriers to the Implementation of a Structure for Managing Technology", Chapter 29 in Gaynor, Gerard H., Ed., Handbook of Technology Management, McGraw-Hill, 1996, pp. 29-1 - 29-13.

Paul A. Nelson, CASE STUDY ON RADON REMEDIATION, Guide for CE402 Environmental Engineering Design Project, Spring 1996.

Paul A. Nelson, "Teaching Business Students to Find, Interpret, and Present Business Data", PROCEEDINGS, Eighth Annual Conference on Making Statistics More Effective in Schools of Business, June 11-12, 1993.

Personal Interests

[click on a picture for a larger view]

Trip to Grand Canyon in 2006; I had to hike all the way to the bottom and all the way back up on a 102 degree day in August.

Fishing

Catching salmon on Lake Superior

Enduring the rain on Lake Powell in Utah.

 

 

Laboratory

The laboratory.  I do soil and water tests.

My favorite student.

On the trail to the Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park in Montana in August of 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

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