Revelle Recovering From Heart Attack

Roger Revelle, the internationally renowned oceanographer and founder of UC San Diego, was in critical but stable condition Thursday night, recovering from a heart attack, officials said.

Revelle, 82, had suffered a cardiac arrest while visiting his doctor at UCSD Medical Center on Wednesday, according to Nancy Stringer, a UCSD spokeswoman. She said he was at the hospital that day undergoing a routine test unrelated to his heart.

Late Thursday, he was in the hospital’s intensive care unit. In February, 1990, Revelle had triple coronary bypass surgery and a heart valve replacement, but recovered well.

Revelle, who has called himself the “granddaddy” of the greenhouse effect, is also linked to the discovery of plate tectonics, one of the most important developments in geological science. But he is best known locally as the major force behind what was a long and difficult struggle to persuade the UC Board of Regents to build a campus in La Jolla in the late 1950s.