Paul W. Gilles was born January 13, 1921 in Kansas City, Kansas. He received his bachelors in chemistry from the University of Kansas in 1943 and graduated as a Summerfield Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1947 he received his Ph.D. in chemistry from University of California-Berkeley and worked as a research assistant on the Manhattan Project during that time.

Gilles returned to KU as an assistant professor in chemistry in 1947. He reached associate status in 1952 and full professor status in 1958. In 1963 he was one of the first professors to be named a University Distinguished Professor.

Gilles' area of expertise was high temperature chemistry, and a great deal of his research was sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He was also a consultant for the Argonne National Laboratory, National Academy of Sciences, National Science Foundation, and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. He attended numerous international conferences, was a member of several professional societies, and served the University on many faculty advisory councils. Over his career he published over 80 articles. He retired in 1990 and died February 12, 2004.