Paul Neely came to Chattanooga as managing editor of The Chattanooga Times in 1983 after working at other newspapers since 1970. He became publisher in 1992 and retired from the paper shortly after its merger with the Free Press in 1999.
He is current president of the Chattanooga Rotary Club; immediate past chair of the Hunter Museum and the United Way; a member of the executive committee of the boards of Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise and the Tennessee Aquarium; a member of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary; and a trustee of Williams College.