Deane Chandler Davis (November 7, 1900 – December 8, 1990) was an American attorney and insurance executive from Vermont.

[2] As Davis related in a 1978 interview, he intended to begin college after high school, but became ill during that year's influenza pandemic and did not recover until September.

[2] In searching for a university in which he could enroll after recovering, Davis sought one that had a World War I-era Student Army Training Corps program that would enable him to pay for his expenses.

[2] The dean of the law school agreed to enroll Davis provided that he simultaneously complete the liberal arts requirements.

In October 1942 he became president of the Vermont Bar Association, succeeding Joseph A. McNamara, and he served a one-year term.

[18] His candidacy was out of the ordinary because he ran at a relatively advanced age, and because he had not served the usual "apprenticeship" of previous successful Republican nominees for governor.

[18] Prior to Davis, the Republican Party, which had controlled statewide offices for more than 100 years, had almost always prepared candidates for governor by electing them to leadership positions in the Vermont House of Representatives or Vermont Senate, or lesser state offices such as lieutenant governor.

[18] Davis also oversaw the 1970 enactment of Act 250, a law designed to allow for planned real estate sale and development while also safeguarding the environment, community life, and aesthetic character of the state.

[21][22][23] In his retirement he authored three books, including 1980's Justice in the Mountains, 1982's Nothin' but the Truth, and 1991's Deane C. Davis: An Autobiography.

[32] The Davis Award is presented annually to a person who has a history of promoting the Morgan Horse, but may have made their contribution quietly and steadily over a long period of time.