David J. Prescott, biology professor emeritus at Bryn Mawr College, has died at 85

David J. Prescott, 85, of Newtown Square, biology professor emeritus at Bryn Mawr College, former acting chair of the biology department, researcher, lecturer, writer, civic leader, and multiskilled builder, died Friday, May 9, of bladder cancer at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Professor Prescott earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s, and taught classes in biology, biochemistry, and other subjects at Bryn Mawr for 35 years, from 1970 to his retirement in 2005. He served as acting chairman of the biology department from 1984 through 1986 and was an expert on neurochemistry, environmental toxicology, fatty acids, sensory systems of insects, and other topics.

He supervised the college’s disposal of low-level radioactive waste material in the 1980s and the acquisition of biology lab equipment in the 1990s. He earned research grants from the Dreyfus Foundation, Research Corp. for Science Advancement, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation. For years, he guest lectured at Villanova and Drexel Universities and other colleges.

He helped establish the Philadelphia chapter of the Society for Neuroscience in 1977 and was active with the Philadelphia Lipid Club, American Chemical Society, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. His research papers and abstracts appeared in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences and other publications, and he earned a Dreyfus Foundation Teacher-Scholar Award.

Before Bryn Mawr, he worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Harvard School of Medicine, and at Washington and Princeton Universities. “He was by nature curious,” said his daughter Holly. “His passion for science was his curiosity, wanting to learn how the body works on a biochemical level.”

Professor Prescott was an avid builder, too, and he and his wife, Barbara, bought several houses in Spring Garden in the 1970s and renovated them into apartments. They grew close to some of their tenants and were featured in a 1972 story in The Inquirer called “A New Society Hill in Spring Garden?”

 “He leaves a remarkable legacy of love, laughter, intellect, and fix-it know-how. He was an academic who delighted in the workings of cars, trains, and toilets.”

They also refurbished the Catawissa Opera House, near Bloomsburg, Pa., and other structures, and he built playgrounds for a local school, decorations for fundraisers, and sets for high school musicals. He constructed new bathrooms for friends and traveled to Massachusetts and New Mexico to remodel homes for his daughters.

He liked to say: He who has the tools has the power. In a tribute, his family said: “He fearlessly took on any project.”

In Radnor, Professor Prescott served on the township’s board of health and environmental advisory council. He worked the polls on Election Day for years and was active with the Radnor Historical Society and other groups.

In 2000, he and his wife volunteered to care for two chickens that were monitored by state Department of Agriculture officials for early signs of West Nile virus. “A side benefit,” Professor Prescott told The Inquirer then, “is we get to keep the eggs.”

Alas, The Inquirer reported in a follow-up story four months later, the Prescotts were given a feisty rooster and a hen too immature to produce eggs. The rooster did, however, provide a daily early-morning wake-up call for the Prescotts and their long-suffering neighbors.

“It does give a bit of a rural flavor to the neighborhood,” Professor Prescott said then. His daughter Paige said: “He was jovial and good-natured, full of life. He was generous and never talked down to anybody.”

David Julius Prescott was born Oct. 8, 1939, in Philadelphia. He grew up with his brother, Henry, in Prospect Park, Delaware County, near the train tracks, and he enjoyed model trains for the rest of his life.

He played saxophone in the school band, sang in the school chorus, and was named “most studious” by classmates at Interboro High School. He graduated as class valedictorian in 1957 and attended Penn on an academic scholarship.

He met Barbara Readler in high school, and they married in 1964 and had daughters Leslie, Paige, and Holly. His wife died in 2024.

Professor Prescott liked to sail, play badminton, and drive his 1966 Mustang convertible in local parades. He collected music boxes and Edison light bulbs.

He was treasurer of the Philadelphia chapter of the St. George Society and earned its Presidential Award in 2017. He doted on his wife and daughters, and constantly immersed himself in whatever they were doing.

He had a remarkable memory and liked to give his dog, Ginger, sips of his morning coffee. Friends and family called him “kind, intellectual, accessible, and capable” and “simply the best” in online tributes. “To know him,” one friend said, “was to love him.”

His daughter Leslie said: “Most of all he loved spending time with family and friends. And we loved being with him.”

In addition to his daughters and brother, Professor Prescott is survived by three grandsons and other relatives.

A celebration of his life was held May 17.

Donations in his name may be made to Friends of the Railroad Museum, Box 125, Strasburg, Pa. 17579.