He earned his AB from Brown University and his ThB from Eastern Nazarene College in 1951.
Stephen W. Nease served as dean of men at Eastern Nazarene College in 1950.
In 1981, he left to become the president of his alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College.
In 1989, Nease was elected by the Church of the Nazarene to serve as the first Commissioner of Education.
In retirement, he served in the development office at Mount Vernon Nazarene until 2000.