Nathaniel William Revis

July 27, 1939 - July 12, 2018

Nathaniel William Revis is in the care of Martin Oak Ridge Funeral Home. Nathaniel passed away July 12, 2018 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He was born July 27, 1939 in Nutley, New Jersey to Morton and Wilma Revis. When Jan McNally of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge’s parent company, Covenant Health, presented Nathaniel Revis with his Muddy Boot award in December 2010, she described him as a “distinguished scientist, entrepreneur and businessman.” For his part, Revis, at the time president and senior scientist of Scientific and Technical Resources Inc., gave credit for his success to “partners” such as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, local banking institutions and “the Oak Ridge community.” Revis, of West Outer Drive, died last week at the age of 78. A native of New Jersey, he came to The Secret City in 1975 — after completing his Ph.D. in biochemistry and teaching at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He arrived in East Tennessee with a joint appointment on the faculty at the University of Tennessee and at ORNL in biomedical sciences. The holder of three patents and the author of more than 50 scientific and technical papers, Revis left the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1981 to start his first company, Oak Ridge Realty Holdings Inc., and started Scientific and Technical Resources several years after that. The latter company won the Small Business Administration’s “Adminstration Award of Excellence” at least four times: In 1985, 1992, 1995 and 2001. All that being said, a release from the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC) in 2010 stated Revis “is best known for his work in the community — as well as at the regional, state and national level — advocating for business, education and quality health care.” Created in 1973 by the founders of ETEC — then known as the Roane Anderson Economic Council — the “Muddy Boot” Award takes its name from the Manhattan Project founders of the once-Secret City of Oak Ridge, Tenn. Referred to as “muddy booters,” these early Oak Ridge workers weathered adverse conditions to build a uniqe community that would ultimately bring an end to World War II. Additional recipients of the ETEC Muddy Boot Award through the years have been Shigeko Uppuluri, Ed Westcott, Ben Adams, Al Gore, Buzz Elkins, Gene Joyce, Bill Manly, Alvin Weinberg, Horace Wells, Gene Caldwell, Tim Myrick, Herman Postma, Barry Stephenson, Tom Hill, Bill Wilcox, Jenny Freeman, Jim Henry, Barbara Ferrell, Sue Cange, David Millhorn and others. A memorial service for Dr. Nathaniel Revis will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 11, at Spurgeon Chapel AME Zion Church, Oak Ridge, Tenn. Online messages may be left for the family at www.martinfuneralhomeoakridge.com. Services entrusted to Martin Oak Ridge Funeral Home 865-483-4341