Richard Malcolm Brown Jr.

Richard Malcolm Brown, Jr. was born January 2, 1939 in Pampa, Texas, to parents Dr. Richard and Clementine Brown. He died peacefully on December 20, 2025. Even as a small child Malcolm was both curious and determined. When he was three years old, he took apart his toy piano to see how it worked. His mother began piano lessons with him at age four, and he later became an accomplished pianist and composer. Malcolm loved plants and the outdoors. He worked tirelessly to landscape his parents’ home with trees, wisteria, gladioli, and honeysuckle. He was the editor and photographer for his high school annual. He also built and operated an amateur radio station and constructed an X-ray machine that won him a trip to the National Science Fair.

Malcolm decided to attend the University of Texas. There he met Ann Callaway, and it was love at first sight. They married on August 26, 1961, and until her death on February 4, 2014, Ann was Malcolm's encourager, helpmate, and inspiration.

As a sophomore at UT, Malcolm volunteered to wash glassware in the laboratory of his professor, the distinguished botanist Dr. Harold C. Bold, who became his lifelong mentor and friend. Malcolm majored in botany, and he was awarded his doctorate at UT in 1964. In 1965, at age 26, he joined the UT botany faculty as an assistant professor.

In 1968 Malcolm accepted an associate professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he established a laboratory for plant ultrastructural research with a focus on the biosynthesis of the ubiquitous and industrially important biological polymer cellulose. There he and his students first visualized the enzyme complexes responsible for cellulose synthesis in algae and subsequently those in more advanced plants. His laboratory also began to study cellulose synthesis in bacteria, particularly the bacterium Acetobacter. Malcolm was promoted to full professor at UNC in 1973.

In 1982, Malcolm returned to the University of Texas as the inaugural holder of the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Endowed Chair in Plant Cell Biology. At UT his research team was the first to clone and sequence a cellulose synthase gene and later provided the first direct proof that the enzyme complex originally visualized in 1980 was in fact the site responsible for cellulose synthesis.

In addition to overseeing his laboratory, Malcolm taught, published, applied for grants, and supervised masters and doctoral candidates. During his career he received numerous awards, including the Darbaker Prize in Phycology and the Anselme Payen Award.

Malcolm’s passion, energy, and creativity were not restricted to science. He loved gardening, and the gladioli and roses that he grew were shared with hospitals, shut-ins, friends, and colleagues. He grew grapes and made wine from them. He composed and published music. He wrote poetry and essays. He took innumerable photographs, always noticing and appreciating the miracles of the natural world around us. He donated generously to charity, and he established an endowment at UT to honor the memory of his wife Ann, a violinist.

In 2017 Malcolm met and married Cindy Brandt, a retired math teacher and artist, and they enjoyed all their life together with friends, hobbies, music, and travel.

Malcolm is survived by his wife, Cindy, his son, David Malcolm Brown, his daughter, Julie Christine Brown and husband Steve Nakata, and his grandson Christopher Mahurin. He is also survived by his brothers Dr. A. Michael Brown and wife Gail, and Dr. W. Mark Brown and wife Claudia, and his first cousin, Eileen Gorss.

Malcolm’s legacy will endure in the many colleagues from around the world with whom he collaborated and the numerous students he taught and inspired, who went on to distinguished careers in academia, medicine, business, and government. They will always remember his energy, intelligence, creativity, kindness, and infectious enthusiasm. As well as being an exceptional scientist and teacher, Malcolm was a generous and loving son, brother, husband and father.

In a document to be read upon his death, Malcolm wrote the following: I bid my family and friends a beautiful farewell, one of great love and hope for the future. The older I got, the more I believed in God. I have looked at life with God as the centerpiece. My message to you all is to enjoy every nanosecond that you are now living. Enjoy your mate, your children, your good friends, your job, your vacation, your hobbies. Farewell with great love and admiration to each and every one of you, from Malcolm.

Our heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Silverado Barton Springs for their loving and skillful care of Malcolm. In lieu of flowers. contributions can be made to the Ann Callaway Brown Endowment Fund for the UT String Project or to the charity of your choice.

Malcolm’s funeral will be held on January 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM at Oak Hill United Methodist Church, which is located at 7815 Hwy 290 West, Austin, Texas 78736. In addition, there will be a graveside ceremony at Austin Memorial Park on April 9, 2026, followed by a Celebration of Malcolm’s Life.