Charles S. ReVelle

Brief Biography

Charles S. ReVelle was a Johns Hopkins University professor who is remembered as the creator of location analysis. As a student at Cornell University, ReVelle studied chemical engineering, receiving his PhD in sanitary engineering. He taught in Cornell’s Department of Environmental Systems Engineering prior to joining the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Hopkins. His interests evolved into environmental systems analysis, addressing such problems as water resource management. ReVelle was eventually made a full professor in the university’s Program in Systems Analysis and Economics for Public Decision.

ReVelle published an influential article on central facilities location in a 1970 issue of Geographic Analysis. This paper, co-authored with Ralph Swain, helped secure the foundation of location analysis and led to a series of real-world application opportunities. ReVelle’s models in the 1970s were used by the City of Baltimore to determine the closure of surplus fire stations. This work also led to smarter forestry policies as ReVelle devised a mathematical model to strike a balance between cost-effective timbers harvesting while also protecting delicate forest species. ReVelle was an active collaborator, having co-authored publications with over one hundred different individuals.

The author of several books, ReVelle’s corpus of works demonstrates a career devotion to environmental issues. In 1992, he and his wife, Penelope, co-authored Global Environment: Securing a Sustainable Future. To the ReVelles, concern for the environment was commitment made by many peoples in many places. Global Environment outlined the history of that commitment and what could be done in the immediate and long-term future. In his later career, ReVelle began applying his models and operations research methodologies to problems in history, ranging from the location of legions in the Roman Empire to twentieth century arms control.

In 1996, ReVelle was jointly awarded the first ever Lifetime Achievement in Location Analysis Award of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences’ (INFORMS) Section on Location Analysis (SOLA).  In 2005, he died of lymphoma at sixty-one years old. Three years later, SOLA established the Chuck ReVelle Rising Star Award. The honor recognizes an individual within eight years of receiving their PhD who has made a significant contribution to location analysis research and displays the potential to continue to do so.

Other Biographies

Church R. L., Current J. R., & Daskin M. S. (2009) Introduction: In tribute to Dr. Charles S. ReVelle. Geographical Analysis, 41(1): 3-8. (link)