In Support of Science

$5 Million Gift Creates College of Science Endowed Deanship

By Valerie Vinyard

Sarah Brown Smallhouse loves science.

She loves it so much that she recently gave a $5 million gift to the University of Arizona.

The Sarah Brown Smallhouse Endowed Deanship will provide funding in perpetuity for College of Science strategic initiatives that advance research, promote student success and increase the college’s engagement with the community to create opportunities throughout the state, nation and world. The endowed deanship will help retain and attract competitive leaders for the college, elevating the role of science at the University of Arizona.

The Tucson native made it an unrestricted gift so the dean could pick and choose to fund the most important needs of the department. “This way, the dean can make the call in real time as circumstances change,” she said. “Who knows what the pressures will be on the dean 20 years from now?”

Those circumstances might include different ways of supporting students, such as providing resources to help people get through moments of crisis.

“Some of these people are so talented,” said Smallhouse, who has volunteered at the College of Science for over 10 years. “It’s heartbreaking to see them working through these pressures, only to see it vanish.”

Carmala “Carmie” Garzione, dean of the UA’s College of Science, said she deeply appreciates Smallhouse’s gift. Officially, she is now the Sarah Brown Smallhouse Dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona.

“I am profoundly grateful to Sarah for this extraordinary gift,” Garzione said. “Sarah is an ardent supporter of the sciences who recognizes the urgency of expanding educational opportunity and advancing solutions to society’s most complex challenges. This endowed deanship will have a truly transformational impact on the College of Science, creating lasting momentum that empowers us to recruit and support exceptional faculty and students, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and drive innovation and public impact for generations to come.”

Garzione has served as dean since 2021 – and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the UA College of Science in 1996 and 2000.

Of the 8,573 students enrolled in College of Science programs, 7,720 are undergrads and 853 are masters/doctoral students. In the College of Science, there are 14 academic departments, 22 undergrad degree programs and 34 graduate degree programs.

Smallhouse is president of the Thomas R. Brown Foundations in Tucson, which is named after her late father – a tech pioneer here. The foundation focuses on STEM education, workforce development and civic leadership and democracy. Grant recipients have included the UA, Pima Community College, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, the Center for the Future of Arizona and the Flinn-Brown Fellowship Program. 

Smallhouse received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Economics, her MBA from the UA in 1988 and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2012. She currently chairs the UA College of Science Advisory Board and co-chairs the Southern Arizona Leadership Council Governance Focus Area. 

Under Garzione’s leadership, the College of Science established a career center to support student connections with research, internships and job opportunities; developed and updated new and existing undergraduate and professional masters’ programs that are in high demand; and has increased sponsored research income and expenditures.

“This is a powerful tool for the person in leadership of science to deploy as she sees fit,” Smallhouse said. “It’s such a privilege to be even a small part of what’s possible.”

Pictured above – Sarah Brown Smallhouse. Photo by Julius Schlosburg