First president of Yeshiva College (now Yeshiva University). Born in Kovno, Lithuania, he studied at the yeshiva of Telz, where he was ordained a rabbi. Revel came to the U.S. in 1906. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and Dropsie College, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1911.

In 1915, Revel became president of the Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary. He founded the Talmudical Academy, and, in 1928, a Yeshiva College of Liberal Arts was established through his efforts. He contributed articles in the fields of Semitics and rabbinic literature. A department of the Graduate School at Yeshiva University is named in his memory.