Ellen Clark Revelle ’31, beloved Scripps College alumna and emerita trustee, died this morning of a massive stroke in La Jolla at the age of 98. Active to the end, she spent her last evening playing dominoes with her caretaker.
A member of Scripps College’s first graduating class, Ellen Revelle was the great niece of the College’s founder, Ellen Browning Scripps. Her daughter, Carolyn Revelle, is currently a trustee of the College.
Ellen was treasured by the Scripps community, not only for her unswerving service and devotion to the College, but for her intellect, her curiosity, and her great good humor. She continued, throughout her life, to be a role model for our students.
Her service and support of Scripps College, along with many other philanthropic causes, is legendary. She joined the board of trustees in 1938 as an alumna trustee and served continuously since 1947 as a trustee and then an emerita trustee. Her many contributions to the College through the years have been thoughtful and far-reaching. Among them is the James E. Scripps Scholarship Fund she and her late husband, Roger, established in 1985 to provide merit scholarships each year to undergraduates. This fund, which allows Scripps to attract and enroll some of the most academically superior students in the nation, has literally changed the face of Scripps; this year, the fund enabled the College to award half-tuition scholarships to 118 outstanding Scripps students.
- Ellen Revelle Remembers (courtesy of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego)
In 2000, in recognition of Ellen’s service to the College, the former President’s House on campus was renamed “Revelle House.” For 10 years it was home to Alumnae Relations and will once again house the College’s president this July.
Active throughout her life, Ellen took a daily swim in the Pacific Ocean until she was well into her 90s. She loved interacting with students and encouraged them to visit her in her La Jolla home, much as her Aunt Ellen had done in the early days of Scripps. She kept her mind and body active through a play-reading group, Tai Chi lessons, and a memoir-writing class. She was also a frequent attendee at the opera, symphony, and theater. Her reports on her travels throughout the country and the world to visit her family kept readers of the Scripps Magazine class notes entertained for years.
Ellen, a psychology and English major at Scripps, was described in her senior yearbook as having “at the same time, a cheerful attitude toward life and a well-rounded interest in things social and cultural.” These traits continued. Speaking at the dedication of Revelle House, in 2000, then-president of Scripps Nancy Y. Bekavac said: “The nature of her interests and affiliations reflects a commitment to the humanities—art, science, education.”
Ellen Clark Revelle received numerous awards in recognition of her many accomplishments. She was given the Ellen Browning Scripps Associates award in 1990, the UCSD Foundation Medal in 1995, the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award in 1996, and the University of California-San Diego Revelle Medal in 1996 for her role, along with her husband, Roger Revelle, in establishing the university, which from its beginning stressed excellence, interdisciplinary studies, and an intolerance of discrimination.
In 2006, Ellen talked to a reporter for Scripps Magazine about her activities: “I belong to the Over 80 Gracious Aging Group,” she said. “We meet the first Monday of the month, at my home. There are about eight women; one member is 100. We talk about whatever we want: travels, retirement homes, health problems, what we’re reading, and, of course, show pictures of our great-grandchildren.”
Ellen Clark Revelle is survived by four children, 12 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled for this Sunday, May 10, at 1 p.m., at Sherwood Hall, on the grounds of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, Ellen Browning Scripps’ former home (700 Prospect Street, La Jolla 92037).
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Scripps College for scholarship support. Scripps College will hold a memorial service for Ellen Revelle in the months ahead, pending arrangements with her family, and will notify the Scripps community when details are confirmed.