Paul Dressel was born on November 29, 1910. He received his B.A. from Wittenberg College in 1931, M.A. from Michigan State College in 1934, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1939. He began his career at Michigan State College in 1934 as a mathematics instructor and stayed there until his retirement in 1981. In 1944 he became the first director of the MSU Counseling Center. Although it was originally meant for career counseling, Dressel was part of the process to expand the Counseling Center to handle personal counseling due to the arrival of World War II veterans on campus. He served in various other positions throughout his time at MSU, including: director of the Office of Institutional Research, assistant provost, and professor of university research. Dressel wrote more than 20 books and in the 1960s was involved with improving student assessments at MSU. Following his retirement as a Distinguished Professor for the College of Education, he continued to do research and author papers. He passed away on November 22, 1989 at the age of 78.