[12] When Deane was 15, his elder brother, who was 5 years his senior and was on conscription service, died of testicular cancer, after being misdiagnosed and denied treatment by a civilian doctor.

[11] Deane went to King Edward VII School in Johannesburg,[12] and then studied English and law at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was a vocal and active opponent of apartheid.

[4][17] Deane handed over the presidency to Lloyd Axworthy in 2004, returning to the role of Vice-President (Academic) and taking the newly established position of Provost.

[7] In 2005, Deane accepted the appointment of Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen's University and serving as a Professor of English Language and Literature in parallel.

[1] Deane met his wife, Sheila, during his MA years at the University of Western Ontario, where she was undertaking her PhD in Women's Studies and was a Virginia Woolf scholar.