Stanley Prescott

Sir Stanley Lewis Prescott was educated at Tetbury Grammar School and attended the Victoria University of Manchester where he was Wild Prizeman in Pharmacology in 1934. He lectured at Manchester Medical School and in 1936 was appointed Professor of Physiology at the Cheeloo (Shantung Christian) University, Tsinan, China. During the Japanese invasion in 1938 he was Superintendent of the Tsinan Hospital.

The family escaped to Australia in 1941 and Prescott was commissioned in the RAAF as a Junior Intelligence Officer. As Squadron Leader he commanded No. 1 Flying Personnel Research Unit in Melbourne dealing with aviation medicine.

After discharge, Prescott was appointed Master of Ormond College, University of Melbourne, and then UWA Vice-Chancellor in 1953. His challenges included the creation of new faculties in Medicine, Architecture, Economics and Commerce, and attracting Commonwealth and State funding to enable a substantial building programme for a functional Arts building and an enlarged Library. One of Prescott’s significant decisions was to request a revised master plan of the proposed buildings to reflect the style of the existing structures and thus be a unifying factor across the campus.

He served on the Commission of Enquiry on the University of Malaya (1957) Nanyang University Commission (1959) the Commonwealth Universities Commission and the Royal Perth Hospital Board. He chaired the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (1962 to 1964), and was a member of the Murdoch University Planning Board (1971 to 1973) and the Senate of Murdoch University (1973 to 1976). Stanley Prescott was knighted in 1965.

Photograph provided by Nigel Prescott
ADB; Pope, J and Birman, W and Bodycoat R Personalities and Places on Crawley Campus UWAHS 2013