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Barry Roy Duell is the son of Paul M. and Velma Duell. Paul M. Duell moved from Kansas in 1957 to teach chemistry at Willamette University until his death in 1983. Paul M. Duell was a World War II veteran and, in 1965, volunteered to host students from the first Willamette University Summer Seminar, in cooperation with the International College of Commerce (ICC) (also called the International College of Commerce and Economics (ICCE), now Tokyo International University (TIU)). The two students Paul Duell's family hosted were the first people from Japan his sons, including Barry, met firsthand.

Barry Duell, in the fall of 1973, his senior year at Willamette, was part of the first group that reciprocated the Willamette University Summer Seminar, going to Japan for a semester. Duell and the other Willamette students spent a semester at the ICC campus in Kawagoe, a city about 20 miles outside Tokyo. Duell graduated from Willamette University in 1974.

Duell became an assistant professor of English and held a position at the ICC from 1976-2015. He was the first full-time Western faculty member hired by the university. In this position, he became the chief liaison officer with Willamette University and assisted with the Japan Studies Program. In the 1980s he was noted as serving as the unofficial Salem ambassador in Kawagoe City, welcoming Salemites and Willamette students.