Deane W. Malott was born July 10, 1898 in Abilene, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a BA in economics and journalism in 1921. In 1923 he received his MBA from Harvard and stayed on as an assistant professor in the Harvard Business School. He left Harvard to become Vice-President of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1929, but he soon returned to Harvard in 1933 and stayed there until coming to KU in 1939.

As KU Chancellor, Deane Malott fought for the financial resources and support to make the University of Kansas a first-rate university. He immediately submitted a budget to the state legislature that included restoring faculty pay to their pre-Depression levels and new buildings to replace decrepit ones. Malott fought for and won the institution of state-sponsored research at the university, the first in the school's history.

When Malott arrived at KU, the budget for the university was only $1 million per year for the Lawrence campus and $200,000 for the Medical Center. By the time he left, it was $5 million for the Lawrence campus and $1.5 million for the Medical Center.

One of Malott's greatest achievements was leading the University through World War II and the postwar boom. His work ensured that the University stayed active during wartime. He brought in a group of Navy machinists, who occupied Strong Hall's west wing and the entire top floor. A Navy V-12 unit stayed in the fraternity houses. Malott instituted new courses directed at women students, such as occupational therapy and physical therapy. The Engineering school began giving credit for certain courses to liberal arts students, resulting in many women learning engineering drawing for area war industries. In 1943 Malott began a 3-semester system wherein semesters started on July 1, November 1, and March 1. This system met the demands of military education and for many students meant completing their degree before beginning military service.

Not all students were able to complete a degree however, and once the war was over, the University saw a massive tide of veterans returning to finish their degrees or begin them for the first time. The 1948-1949 school year saw double the pre-war enrollment. Due to the influx of people, there was a massive housing shortage in Lawrence, and Malott urged all community members to open up their homes and contracted for surplus military housing. His acumen for problem-solving ensured that the University not only stayed afloat during the war and post-war years but that it thrived.

In January of 1951, Deane Malott announced his resignation. At the end of that school year, he left to become the President of Cornell University. He continued to serve on several corporate boards and in other positions after he left Cornell. Deane Malott passed away at the age of 98 in 1996 in Ithaca, New York.