Wm. Revell Phillips, emeritus professor of geology at Brigham Young University and past chairman of that department, received a PhD in mineralogy from the University of Utah. He has taught at Louisiana Tech, University of Sind (Pakistan), Middle-East Technical University (Turkey, Haceteppe University (Turkey), and Waterloo University (Ontario, Canada). He served as assistant director of the Seila Archaeological Expedition in the Fayum of Egypt. Revell and his wife, LaRue, are the parents of four children. Revell and LaRue directed many tours for BYU Travel Study to all parts of the world (largely the Middle East and Russia) and later tours for Pan American Tours and Voyager Tours.