Our Roots – Where It All Began

You could say it was fate that brought childhood friends Harold Dean and William White together to turn their passion for cooking into a business handcrafting cast iron cookware. In 1967, driven by their vision to make quality cooking accessible to all households, the duo began tinkering away in Harold’s garage to perfect their first cast iron skillet design.

After months of trial and error, they emerged with an impeccably crafted pan that performed like no other. As word spread among neighbors on the superiority of Harold and William’s creations, demand for their cast iron cookware grew rapidly. Realizing they had struck a chord with home cooks, the ambitious friends decided to move operations to a quaint storefront smack in the heart of their hometown.

From those humble beginnings, Deane and White Cookware was born.

Our Journey – From Local Shop to National Prominence

As excellent cooking results spoke for themselves, it wasn’t long before Deane and White caught the attention of local retailers seeking to carry these innovative cast iron pans in their stores. Within a few short whirlwind years, Harold and William saw their cookware being stocked in shops across the country.

Despite rapidly growing distribution nationwide, Harold and William never lost sight of their original purpose – to help home cooks nationwide prepare delicious meals for their families with reliable, thoughtfully designed tools. This commitment to enriching lives through cooking guided them as they expanded their product catalog to empower budding chefs everywhere.

Our Legacy – Quality First and Foremost

Today, Deane and White remains dedicated to carrying on the founders’ legacy by creating the most helpful, highest-performing cookware that makes cooking a pleasure, not a chore. Although we now offer various cookware collections with advanced innovations, every product we craft embodies Harold and William’s spirit of serving home cooks through quality craftsmanship.

As we continue reimagining cookware technology to further simplify cooking, our roots keep us grounded in pursuing perfection so that families across America can keep creating cherished cooking memories for generations to come.

Meet Our Passionate Team

At Deane and White Cookware, we are devoted to carrying on the founders’ legacy of bringing joy and ease to home cooking. Led by a team of devoted experts, we strive to serve our customers with the same care and quality Harold Dean and William White embodied when they handcrafted their first pan in 1967.

Get to know the talented people preserving the passion that started it all:

Claire Dean – Chief Executive Officer

Claire Dean grew up listening to family stories about her great-grandfather Harold Dean, who built Deane and White Cookware alongside his friend William White. After earning her MBA from Wharton, Claire worked in marketing for several top CPG brands before joining Deane and White as CEO in 2010.

As CEO, Claire has focused on accelerating product innovation without losing sight of Harold’s commitment to quality manufacturing and service. She takes pride in carrying on her family’s cookware legacy and bringing people back to the kitchen. Claire lives in Rhode Island with her husband Michael and two children, Emily and Andrew.

On weekends, you can find her cooking up new recipes and passing on the joy of homemade meals to the next generation.

William “Bill” White Jr. – Chief Innovation Officer

Bill White descends from Deane and White Cookware co-founder William White. After studying engineering and design in college, Bill joined Deane and White in 2016 to head up research and development. His mission is to envision the cookware needs of the next generation and bring new solutions to life.

Under Bill’s leadership, Deane and White has pioneered innovations like our ThermaStabilTM handles and IntelliSenseTM smart pan. Yet engineering bleeding-edge technology never overshadows respect for quality manufacturing. Bill still has some of his great-grandfather William’s original cast iron pans that he cooks with at home.

Alice Chen – Vice President of Marketing

Alice found her calling in understanding home cooks and translating their needs into products and experiences. Before joining Deane and White in 2018, she honed her skills in brand management and consumer insights at Clorox.

As VP of Marketing, Alice stewards the Deane and White brand by gathering customer perspectives to inform product development and go-to-market strategies. She also pioneers new brand initiatives aimed at reinvigorating people’s passion for home cooking. From digital recipe content to in-store cooking classes, Alice finds creative ways to engage and inspire customers.

Outside of work, Alice is an avid food blogger and home cook. She loves the mix of science and art in cooking. Her specialty is elevated comfort food with global flavors that bring people together.

Michael Davis – Senior Director of Engineering

With a BS in Materials Science and 20+ patents under his belt, Michael brings deep technical expertise to his role leading Deane and White’s product engineering efforts. Before joining Deane and White, Michael managed cookware development for Calphalon, where he honed his knowledge of culinary pain points and how to solve them through design.

Michael’s team draws on the founders’ spirit of innovation balanced with relentless testing. This enables them to create thoughtfully engineered cookware to meet the real-world needs of home cooks. When not in the product development lab, you can find Michael imparting his material science and engineering knowledge as a guest lecturer at universities.

Jennifer Ross – Customer Experience Manager

Jennifer believes that understanding our customers’ experience is the key to preserving Harold and William’s devotion to service. Her background includes customer success roles at both small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. She joined Deane and White in 2021 as our first Customer Experience Manager.

Jennifer spearheads initiatives to gather first-hand insights from Deane and White users. This includes customer advisory panels, user testing, and worth-of-mouth community engagement. She distills insights into actionable ways to improve both our products and the journey customers have with our brand. The ultimate goal is ensuring every customer feels cared for.

Outside of work, Jennifer loves exploring cities through their local eateries and cooking classes. She is always eager to discover new recipes, ingredients, and global cuisines.

This experienced yet approachable team of innovators and customer advocates lead Deane and White Cookware into the future while upholding our founders’ passions. Driven by our heritage yet forward-thinking, we create the products and experiences home cooks deserve. Reach out anytime if we can be a partner in your kitchen!