John Duley received his B.S. in 1943 from the Ohio State University, and B.D. in 1949 from Union Theological Seminary. He went on to study at Cambridge University, England from 1956 to 1957. Duley came to East Lansing in 1962 as a Presbyterian Minister for the MSU branch of United Ministeries in Higher Education. From 1965 to 1968 he was involved in the Student Tutorial Education Project (STEP) program at Michigan State University which trained student and faculty volunteers to prepare high school students entering Rust College as freshmen, an all-Black school in Mississippi. From 1968-1976 Duley was a specialist and then assistant professor of field studies in Justin Morrill College. In 1976 he worked in the Learning and Evaluative Service Department and became an associate professor in 1978. Duley retired in 1982. During his career Duley was involved with the National Society for Internships and Experimental Education, the Council for Advancement of Experimential Learning, National Center for Public Service Internship Programs.