Photo credit: Kevin Kavanaugh Photography
On February 4, 2020, community leader, volunteer and philanthropist Debra Deane Little was named the University of King’s College 15th Chancellor. She recently accepted a renewed five-year term, extending her appointment through February 4, 2030.
Deane Little was born in Toronto and raised in London, Ont. She holds BA, BEd and MA degrees from the University of Windsor, Ont. She lives in Windsor, Ont. with her husband, Robert Little. They have three boys who are adopted, one of whom is a King’s graduate, and a fourth young man who has been a part of their family since he was 17.
“Debra Deane Little is warm, caring, friendly, down-to-earth, enthusiastic, genuinely interested in everyone, and deeply committed to King’s and its well-being,” says William Lahey, King’s President and Vice-Chancellor. “We are delighted she has agreed to be the honorary leader of our community for the next five years.”
As an engaged King’s parent, Deane Little has grown to admire King’s and its distinctive educational mission with its emphasis on living and learning together in a supportive community. On that basis, she has, with her husband, become a major benefactor of King’s, including the funding of the Debra Deane Little and Robert Little Academic Scholarships for Varsity Athletes. These include 14 four-year entrance scholarships every year and additional scholarships of shorter duration to students who excel at King’s.
Deane Little’s motivation for supporting King’s is her desire to promote and support greater and wider awareness of King’s, the life-changing education it offers, and the lives of meaning and purpose it inspires its graduates to lead. To that end, Deane Little and Robert Little have designated King’s as a primary beneficiary of their family’s Alpha Aquilae Foundation.
A generous gift from the Alpha Aquilae Foundation—one of the largest gifts in King’s history—led the way to a comprehensive restoration of three of King’s five historic student residences, known as “bays.” The iconic stone buildings were designed by Halifax architect Andrew Cobb and have been home to generations of King’s students since 1929.
The foundation also funded the first two phases of the Southeast Corner Project, a plan to redevelop and revitalize the southeast corner of its campus and create a new home for the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing and King’s Athletics, additional residences and community gathering spaces, including dedicated community rooms for the Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities. The first phase funded internal and external community dialogues to inform concept drawings and pre-design work by leading Canadian architectural firm Diamond Schmitt in association with Abbott Brown. The second phase of the SEC Project involves generating schematics that closely examine the project’s physical constraints and enable the design team to evaluate potential construction materials, building systems and project delivery approaches.
Deane Little and Robert Little’s generosity, and their commitment to student success, also made possible the Deane Little Community Support Centre. The centre is a place where students, faculty and staff can connect with the resources and expertise available on campus, including peer support, and the university’s Sexual Health and Safety Officer, Accessibility Officer and Student Support Advisor. To further support our students’ academic success, a generous gift from the Alpha Aquilae Foundation also launched a new Student Academic Support Program to strengthen support for undergraduate students, including student-athletes and outreach for Black and African Nova Scotian, Mi’kmaq and Indigenous students, international and first-generation learners.
The Deane Little family also benefits post-secondary students within their own community with the four-year Robert Little and Debra Deane Little Windsor-Essex Scholarships, valued at $10,750 per year, and awarded to 10 graduating students per year through the Greater Essex County District School Board to help fund up to four years of post-secondary studies at a Canadian university. Their objective is to provide consistent financial aid to academically able graduating secondary students entering a university in Canada with a special focus on students who demonstrate a combination of academic ability, financial need and balanced personal development.
The Deane Little family also funds a bursary awarded to students who successfully complete the Trailblazer Mentorship Program, an initiative created by the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board and Nick Harris, BA(Hons)’22. The mentorship program provides support and resources to assist 25 students per year in pursuing their higher education goals and accessing available scholarship and financial aid opportunities, and the bursary can be applied to help fund their first year of post-secondary education. The first graduating class of the Trailblazer Mentorship Program was held in February 2025.
A generous donation from the Alpha Aquilae Foundation is also funding the implementation of an AI software program at the Windsor Regional Hospital Cancer Centre. The software, Gray OS, is developed specifically for cancer programs to more efficiently schedule clinical treatments in radiation therapy, cancer clinics and systemic therapy.
Throughout her life, Deane Little has been an active community member and volunteer for a range of causes and organizations including hospice care, church work, public education and support for adoption and families of adoptive children. She served nine years as a member and then chairperson of the Adoption Resource Group of Windsor and Essex County.
“I believe in the life-long value of the education students receive and create at King’s,” says Deane Little. “I look forward to working with the administration, faculty, students and the entire King’s community to help others come to know the transformative and sustaining quality of the education students receive here.”
Debra Deane Little is King’s first woman Chancellor.