Compton Lab | W.A Franke Honors College

Caitlyn Hall, John Lee Compton, and Franke Dean John Pollard in the Honors Village Courtyard

The Compton Lab for Discovery and Innovation

Empowering students to take intellectual risks and follow their curiosity where it leads.

Learn how to learn; teach and mentor others. Be curious, pursue your dreams and have fun.

The Compton Gift

In fall 2023, Dr. John Lee Compton made a generous $3.2 million gift to the W.A. Franke Honors College to establish The Compton Lab for Discovery and Innovation. The gift has two primary focus areas: The Compton Chair for Creative Intelligence and Innovation, a faculty position held by Dr. Caitlyn Hall that will oversee the college’s newest degree program, The Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (BCII), and the Compton Fund for Exploration. True to its name, the fund supports Exploratory Mini-Grants, up to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a team, that encourage students to explore beyond their primary major and discipline.

Fueling an Ecosystem of Innovation

The Compton Lab is not a brick-and-mortar location. Rather, it is an expansive ecosystem that enhances all future-facing programming within the Franke Honors College, including transdisciplinary and experiential opportunities for students to break traditional academic boundaries and think differently.

Dr. Compton’s gift enables students to take intellectual risks and try new things. This approach is fundamental to many existing programs in Franke Honors, including the early undergraduate research Quest program, the Honors Thesis, the Future Earth Resilience and Health and Human Values minors, the Honors Civic Leadership Certificate, and the college’s new degree program, the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (BCII). His generosity will fuel the wonder of generations of Franke Wildcats, enabling them to make the most of their undergraduate experience.

The Compton Fund for Exploration

Open to any Franke Honors student, Exploratory Mini Grants can be used to fund projects inside or outside of a student’s primary major, and are often used in support of Quest, Honors Thesis, or faculty-mentored Individual Study projects.

Exploratory Mini-Grants

The Compton Chair for Creative Intelligence and Innovation

This endowed faculty position, held by Dr. Caitlyn Hall, oversees the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation degree program and creates a path for innovative scholarship and pedagogy within Franke Honors.

BCII Degree program

Compton Lab News

web header that reads infrastructures of control

"Infrastructures of Control": Q&A with the Geographers Behind University of Arizona's Border Surveillance Photo Exhibition

April 8, 2024

Franke Honors student Colter Thomas was awarded an Exploratory mini-grant, and has used the funding from his grant to create a visual archive of security and surveillance infrastructure in the U.S. borderlands. Colter and his research partner, Dugan Meyer, are hosting an exhibition opening on April 12, and a panel discussion on April 19 at ENR2 on campus.

Exploratory Mini-Grants in Action: Poetry Writing Workshops with Daryl Ijaola

March 7, 2024

Daryl Ijaola is a sophomore at the W.A. Franke Honors College studying Biomedical Engineering with minors in Health and Human Values and Spanish. Ijaola, who is also a Black Excellence Scholar, has a passion for expressing his thoughts and emotions through poetry and spoken word. Using the resources from his Exploratory Mini-Grant, Ijaola is cultivating a dedicated space for students to explore writing poetry through weekly workshops hosted in the University of Arizona Main Library.

photo of government building with bell out front

Dr. Caitlyn Hall Seeks to Bridge Science and Policy with State Fellowship Program

Feb. 9, 2024

Dr. Caitlyn Hall, Compton Chair for Creative Intelligence and Innovation and Assistant Professor of Practice at the Franke Honors College, is part of an interdisciplinary team of University of Arizona faculty and students working to establish a science and technology policy fellowship program serving the Arizona Legislature.

woman sitting in front of lap top computer speaking with a microphone

From CUES to BCII: Caitlyn Hall works to shape Transdisciplinary Education in Franke Honors and Beyond

Dec. 13, 2023

Dr. Caitlyn Hall has been named Compton Chair for Creative Intelligence and Innovation, and will oversee the college's newest degree program—the Bachelor & Minor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation. This endowment is part of a generous $3.2 million gift that was recently given to the W.A. Franke Honors College by Dr. John Lee Compton.

Dr. John Lee Copton poses with faculty and staff during the signing of his gift agreement

W.A. Franke Honors College Receives $3.2 million gift to create the Compton Lab for Discovery and Innovation

Dec. 5, 2023

The Compton Lab for Discovery and Innovation, made possible by Dr. John Lee Compton’s generous gift, includes the establishment of the Endowed Chair for Creative Intelligence and Innovation and Compton Fund for Exploration. A longtime volunteer who has worked with many Franke Honors students on their research projects, Dr. Compton is an advocate for creative inquiry and aims to create a safety net for students who want to take informed risks with their projects.

Fuel Wonder at Franke Honors