He gave the school approximately nine acres of land and donated $125,000 towards its construction.

The first class at Dean Academy was on October 1, 1866, with 44 students attending at the local Universalist Church.

During the summer of 1872, it was destroyed by a fire, but reconstruction began and finished on June 7, 1874.

The 100-acre (0.40 km2) campus includes Dean Hall, the college's oldest structure which houses classrooms, radio station Power 88 WGAO, offices, athletics offices, basketball/volleyball gymnasium, the Center for Student Administrative Services (CSAS), Campus Safety, video production studios/classrooms, the president's office and board room, and two floors of student residences.

], including Dorothy and Glendon Horne '31 Hall, Green Family Library Learning Commons, Morton Family Learning Center, athletic field updates (press box, scoreboards, dugouts), Grant Field renovation, and the Rooney Shaw Center for Innovation in Teaching.