Dr. David Marshall Prescott died in Boulder on February 19, 2011, with his loving family by his side. He was born in Clearwater, FL on August 3, 1926 to Lillian and Clifford Prescott. He graduated from high school in Waterbury, CT and served in the Merchant Marine as a radio operator during World War II. Following honorable discharge in 1945, he earned a BA from Wesleyan University and a PhD in Zoology from the University of California, Berkley. He completed his postdoctoral work in Copenhagen, Denmark as an American Cancer Society Fellow.
David began his career as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, with subsequent appointments as Biologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Professor and Chair of Anatomy at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Professor and Co-founder of the Institute for Developmental Biology at CU Boulder, and Chairman and Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at CU Boulder.
David retired in 2002, having mentored hundreds of undergraduate students, many of whom have become prominent physicians, scientists and educators. His career was highlighted by his many seminal contributions to the field of molecular biology, which are detailed by the more than 240 published books and manuscripts he authored. He was a President of the American Society of Cell Biology, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, an American Cancer Society Scholar and a President of the Society of Protozoologists. He was the recipient of many prestigious teaching and research awards, including an Alexander von Humboldt prize, a Hazel Barnes prize, Stearns award, two SOAR awards from undergraduate students at the University of Colorado, and he was a University of Colorado President’s Teaching Scholar. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the National Academy of Sciences.
David enjoyed gardening, fishing, reading, Sudoku puzzles, classical music, and building model ships. He was kind and generous and a man of great patience and integrity. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends. David is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Gayle, his daughter, Lavonne (Brian), his sons Jason (Christina) and Ryan (Judy) as well as four grandchildren, Hayden, Henry, Alexandra and Zack. Contributions in his memory can be made to the Prescott Scholarship for undergraduate arts and sciences students at the University of Colorado Foundation, 4740 Walnut St., Boulder, CO, 80301.