Wm. Revell Phillips

Dr. Wm. Revell Phillips, emeritus Professor of Geology, is a former Chairman of the Geology Department at Brigham Young University. After a short tenure at Kennecott Research Center, he began his teaching career as an Assistant Professor at Louisiana Tech and moved to BYU in 1957, where he has taught a variety of geology subjects for forty years and religion (New Testament) for fifteen.  He has taught at BYU for 43 years, during which time he had leave as Fulbright professor or invited lecturer and research professor at foreign universities in Pakistan, Canada, and two universities in Turkey.

He received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987 and was Professor of the Year in the Division of Continuing Education in 1995. Dr. Phillips has taught preparation classes for BYU performance groups traveling abroad to the Middle East; honors seminar classes on the science and history of gems, jewelry, and other precious things; and other classes of general and classical education. 

Dr. Phillips and his wife, LaRue, were participants in the BYU archaeological excavations in the Fayum Valley of Egypt from its very beginning in 1981, and he served as assistant director of the excavations for several seasons, under Dr. C. Wilfred Griggs. Revell and LaRue were appointed to select, train, and supervise the student and volunteer hosts and hostesses for the Ramses II exhibit in Provo in 1985–1986. They have directed tours since 1978 for Travel Study in Turkey, Greece, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, China, Alaska, Chile, Peru, Patagonia, Equador and Galapagos Islands. 

In 1992, he traveled to Yunnan Province, China, as adviser and consultant for a paleontological-archaeological expedition of the University of Notre Dame; and in August of 1994, he was invited by the Russian Academy of Sciences to examine gem mines in the Central Ural Mountains, closed since Czar Nicholas II.

Revell has served as Bishop of two wards and as a counselor to the Stake President of the BYU 1st Stake.  Revell and his wife, LaRue have been ordinance workers in the Provo Temple for nine years serving as trainers and shift coordinators. Revell and LaRue formed an inseparable team that began in junior high school, in Salt Lake City, and they have shared life’s experiences for 50 years as husband and wife. They raised their family (three boys and one girl) in Yellowstone Park, where he was senior Park Ranger Naturalist for eleven summers and where they acquired an understanding and appreciation for all aspects of nature. Very few experiences have not been shared.

Together, they conducted student groups on the Travels and Teachings of the Early Apostles, beginning at the BYU Jerusalem Center in Israel and ending six weeks later in Athens, Greece. As cultural advisors, they accompanied the Dancer’s Company (1990), to Turkey and Israel, and International Folk Dancers (1994) to Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and Jordan. In 1998, Dr. Phillips was one of a five-member team, selected by the BYU Ancient Studies Center (Dr. Kent Brown, director), to investigate Nephi’s Land Bountiful, in Oman.  Subsequently, Revell became the co-director of the BYU geology team continuing this investigation and, recently participated in the filming of a documentary concerning the ancient frankincense trail and Lehi’s journey which will be released to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

In his retirement Revell has pursued his interests in the science and history of gem minerals and other precious things, such as porcelain and glass. He still teaches an honors seminar, by that title, at BYU.  The Phillips see a tour as a stimulating, learning adventure, in contrast to a relaxing, recreational vacation.  They introduce tour participants to real people and real places in a magical world.  They eagerly share their knowledge and excitement, and seize the opportunity for unplanned cultural surprises.

Tours Guided by Wm. Revell Phillips