Duane Isely (1918–2000) was an American professor of botany and an expert on seed technology and weeds.
[3] In 1942 he received his PhD from Cornell University with thesis supervisor Walter Conrad Muenscher (1891–1963).
From 1942 to 1944 Isely conducted studies on the herbaceous plants of the reservoirs being constructed for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
In 1944 he was appointed an extension associate at Iowa State University, where he was put in charge of the seed laboratory.
In the 1980s he played an important role in having the Iowa State University Herbarium renamed in honor of Ada Hayden.