Albert Tillman
Albert Alvin Tillman | |
---|---|
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | January 16, 1928
Died | January 16, 2004 Seattle, Washington, U.S. | (aged 76)
Allegiance | United States |
Alma mater | USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Los Angeles State College |
Albert Alvin Tillman (January 16, 1928 – January 16, 2004) was an American educator and underwater diver.
Biography
Tillman was born in
Tillman and Bev Morgan developed the world's first public
He opened the world's first dedicated dive resort, The Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO) in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. The resort included a full staff of instructors, a dive store, restaurant, museum, science lab, pools, photographic labs, and a fleet of boats, and catered to millionaires, movie stars, politicians, and royalty.
Tillman co-founded the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), the first international SCUBA diving certification agency, with Neal Hess in 1960. He worked all over the world to make dive training safer and more widespread, and planned to co-author four books on the history of diving titled Scuba America with Zale Parry, although only one of the four volumes was completed before his death. The books are now being completed by his son Thomas Tillman and Zale Parry. His personal memories of the early days of the sport were published in his book titled "I Thought I Saw Atlantis." He oversaw Dave Woodward's invention of the octopus regulator at UNEXSO around 1965–6.[3]
Along with
Aside from the tens of thousands of divers who have been certified by programs designed by Tillman he logged over 10,000 open water dives during his career and personally certified thousands of divers and instructors.
Tillman died on his 76th birthday, in 2004, of a
See also
- Aqua-Lung – Original name for open-circuit scuba equipment
- Sea Hunt – American action adventure television series from 1958 to 1961
References
- ^ Cargile, Edward (2004). "In Memory of Albert Tillman". Historical Diving Society. Archived from the original on 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2006-10-21.
- ^ "Los Angeles County remembers a man of firsts - Al Tillman". DivingHistory.com. 2004. Archived from the original on 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2006-10-21.
- ^ "Early years of UNEXSO". Archived from the original on 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
External links
- DiveNewsWire obituary
- Associated Press article on Tillman's book
- Sea Hunt Trivia Guide, Al Tillman from The Scuba Guy