Daniel Little served as UM-Dearborn’s chancellor for 18 years, from 2000 until 2018, the longest tenure of any UM-Dearborn leader.
During that time, he advanced the university’s role as a community-engaged campus, championed accessibility and diversity, expanded academic offerings and oversaw the expansion of campus facilities.
In recognition of these contributions to the university and the surrounding community, the Board of Regents approved renaming UM-Dearborn’s Administration Building the Daniel Little Building.
Following the completion of renovations that began last summer, both the College of Education, Health and Human Services and the university’s administrative offices will be housed in the building.
“The ongoing transformation of the Administration Building presents an unprecedented opportunity to commemorate Daniel Little’s enduring legacy,” Interim Chancellor Gabriella Scarlatta told the regents. “Naming this vital facility in his honor would pay fitting tribute to his visionary leadership and the values he championed: regional engagement, academic innovation and a steadfast commitment to access and inclusion.”
During his time as chancellor, Little led the development and advancement of a “metropolitan vision” for the university, which emphasized mutually beneficial community partnerships that drew on the university’s scholarship, research and service.
As part of this work, Little created the Integrated Learning and Community Partner Office, later renamed the Office of Metropolitan Impact, and then, in 2023, the Office of Community-Engaged Learning.
This office has led two successful applications for an elective Community Engagement classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching — a rigorous process that requires demonstration of authentic collaborations and community impact across colleges and programs. The university received the most recent multi-year classification this year.
Little also developed a “Conversation on Race” series in partnership with New Detroit, a group of civic leaders working to achieve racial understanding and racial equity in metro Detroit. Over its 15-year history, the program hosted more than 50 programs on campus to discuss pervasive race and race-related issues in southeast Michigan.
Little was chancellor during the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, after which Arab, Arab American and Muslim residents in Dearborn and across Michigan, including those attending and working at UM-Dearborn, faced increased scrutiny, stereotyping and harassment.
“Dr. Little brought the community together, ensuring the campus served as a safe place for dialogue and engagement,” Scarlatta said.
Under Little’s leadership, UM-Dearborn saw record enrollment growth, both overall and among students who have historically been underrepresented in higher education. During his tenure, total enrollment reached its peak of 9,468 students, while enrollment of African American students increased 27% and of Latino students jumped 164%.
UM-Dearborn also established its first doctoral degree programs under Little’s leadership and he led the creation of the College of Education, Health and Human Services. The Science Learning Research Center/Observatory, the Institute for Advanced Vehicle Systems building and the Natural Sciences Building were all constructed during Little’s tenure, and both the Renick University Center and the Fieldhouse were expanded and modernized.
“To have this building named in my honor is a distinction that is uniquely meaningful to me,” Little said. “The opportunity to work and collaborate for so many years with the faculty, staff, students and communities of the University of Michigan-Dearborn has been the most meaningful and satisfying part of my entire academic career. I offer my gratitude to the campus for those years of collaboration.
“And I express my deep appreciation to the Board of Regents, to Chancellor Scarlatta and to President Grasso for bestowing my name on the building that has such happy memories for me.”
Prior to joining UM-Dearborn as chancellor, Little served as vice president for academic affairs at Bucknell University and as associate dean of the faculty at Colgate University. He also served as professor of philosophy at both of these schools and, prior to that, taught at Wellesley College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He received his AB in philosophy and BS in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1971 and his PhD in philosophy from Harvard University in 1977. Following his tenure as chancellor,
Little continued to teach philosophy courses at UM-Dearborn and also served as a professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at UM-Ann Arbor until his retirement from the university in 2025.
A renaming celebration will be held once the building renovations are complete. More details will be shared at that time.
