Richard Malcolm Brown, Jr. was born January 2, 1939 in Pampa, Texas, to parents Dr. Richard Malcolm and Clementine Warrenburg Brown. He died peacefully on December 20, 2025 in Austin.
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. At Pampa High School, he was the editor and photographer for the annual, and constructed an X-ray machine that won him a trip to the National Science Fair.
Malcolm came to Austin 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. To honor her memory, he established the Ann Callaway Brown Endowment Fund for the UT String Project.
Malcolm was awarded his doctorate in botany at UT in 1964 and in 1965 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. 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.
In 2017 Malcolm met and married Cindy Brandt, a retired math teacher and artist, and they made the most of their time together with friends, music, and travel.
Malcolm is survived by his loving 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. In addition to his professional achievements, Malcolm was a generous and loving 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.
