Dunn earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and economics from Brigham Young University (BYU).

At the time of his call as a general authority, Dunn was living in Natick, Massachusetts, and working in Boston.

[2][non-primary source needed] In the early 1980s, he served as director of the church's Adult Curriculum Department.

Dunn was an inaugural member of the newly created First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976 and he was also the president of the church's Australia Sydney Mission for three years.

Among Dunn's published works is Prepare Now to Succeed on Your Mission (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1977).