 His father, Ralph Dewey (1901–1959), was professor of economics and department chair at the Ohio State University.A graduate of the University of Chicago (A.B., 1943) and the University of Iowa (M.A., 1947), Donald Dewey's education was interrupted by service in the United States Army during World War II.After the war, he did additional graduate work at Cambridge University, the London School of Economics, and Chicago before joining the faculty of Duke University in 1950.