M. Ray Perryman

Dr. Ray Perryman is President and CEO of The Perryman Group, an economic research and analysis firm based in Waco, Texas. He holds a BS in Mathematics from Baylor University and a PhD in Economics from Rice University. He always felt that the BS would have been somehow more appropriate for Economics. He took his first economics course on a coin flip between economics and psychology. If it had gone the other way, there might be some really messed up people in the world. In addition to his earned degrees, Dr. Perryman has received an honorary doctorate from the International Institute for Advanced Studies. After that one, he told his kids they had to start calling him “Doctor Doctor.” They preferred dork, dweeb, nerd, geek, and loser (on a good day). Dr. Perryman has held numerous academic positions in his career, including ten years as Herman Brown Professor of Economics and five years as University Professor and Economist-in-Residence at Baylor University, as well as five years as Business Economist-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University. He has authored several books and more than 400 academic papers, and has served as President of both the Southwestern Economic Association and the Southwestern Society of Economists. His current academic roles include Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas and Institute Distinguished Professor of Economic Theory and Method at the International Institute for Advanced Studies. He also lives in Odessa while working in Waco, is the father of five young Texans (ages 31-37—although some temporarily reside elsewhere) and the grandfather of four, gets lost on his own block (he lives on a circle), and once ran one of his cars into the other one.