After attending high school at De La Salle College in Mangere, South Auckland, Dudley obtained B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Auckland in 1987 and 1992 respectively. His doctoral thesis was titled Coherent transient phenomena in the mode-locked argon laser. In 1992 and 1993, he carried out postdoctoral research at the University of St Andrews in Scotland before taking a lecturing position in 1994 at the University of Auckland. In 2000, he was appointed Professor at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon. In 2009 he initiated the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015. He served as Steering Committee Chair of the International Year of Light 2015 until its successful completion and oversaw the delivery of its Final Report in 2016. In 2012, he was elected to the executive board of the European Physical Society, and he served as its president from April 2013 until April 2015. In 2017, he chaired the international partnership that worked with UNESCO to see the proclamation of the annual International Day of Light commemoration, and he continues to chair the International Day of Light Steering Committee.