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Andreas "Andy" Rechnitzer passed away August 22, 2005 at Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, Calif., after a sud- den illness. Andy was a student of Scripps Professor Dr. Carl Hubbs. In 1955, Hubbs and Rechnitzer discov- ered and identified the striped yellow fish that now serves as the official logo of Scripps' Birch Aquarium (Chaetodon falcifer). While at Scripps, then part of UCLA, Andy, Connie Limbaugh, and Jim Stewart developed the first SCUBA diver training program for ocean scientists, which included such innovations as ditch-and-don, buddy breathing, and the buddy system. That SCUBA training program is the basis of all major sport diving certification pro- grams in the world today, including PADI and NAUI. Upon graduation from SIO, Andy considered staying at Scripps, but Roger Revelle told him to head out into the world. Later, Andy recalled, "It was the best advice he could have given me." As a mem- ber of the U.S. Navy-ONR Evaluation team, Rechnitzer was instrumental in negotiating the pur- chase of the deep diving bathyscaphe, Trieste, from Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard. Rechnitzer, along with Scripps alumni, Art Maxwell, Scripps researcher Willard Bascom, and Captain Charles Bishop, USN, (later with MPL), had Trieste brought from Italy to San Diego's Naval Electronics Lab (NEL), on Point Loma. Rechnitzer, a civilian scientist, was made Scientist-in-Charge of Project NEKTON. On January 23, 1960, Trieste dove with pilot Don Walsh and observer Jacques Piccard to 35,800-ft. into the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean depth. The success kick-start- ed deep submergence development in the U.S., and many businesses in San Diego. Rechnitzer was awarded the Navy Department Distinguished Civilian Service Award by President Dwight Eisenhower. He then led the development of the Beaver IV diver LILO submersible at Rockwell International. Andy then joined the scientific staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and Oceanographer of the Navy from 1970-1984. He later joined SAIC as Senior Scientist from 1985-1998. In 2002, the History Channel aired the special "The Deepest Dive," co- produced by Andy and Ed Cargile, recounting the obstacles and mile- stones on the way to the bottom of the sea. Andy was also an early advo- cate of K-12 outreach, authoring seg- ments of books on hands-on marine science for young students. He founded and was first president of the Ocean Institute (Dana Point, Calif.), which continues to collaborate with Scripps and other scientists as an informal center of marine education today. "A great man passed my way, and I shall miss him", said former Trieste pilot Tony Dunn. Andy was a warm and outgoing friend to so many. Over the years, National Geographic Society photographer Ralph White would comically refer to himself as Andy's illegitimate son. I suppose, in hindsight, Andy did fos- ter a sense of kinship with many by offering encouragement and express- ing pride, especially to those younger, as a good father might. A memorial service at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is being planned, and will be announced in the SoCal eNews. (Bibliographic material from the Scripps Institution Archives. Personal reflections by Kevin Hardy, khardy@ucsd.edu) www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 49 people & companies Obituary: Andreas B. Rechnitzer (1924-2005) Dr. Andreas Rechnitzer (3rd from left) appears in the photo with Larry Shoemaker, Don Walsh, and Jacques Piccard aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste, following the historic dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in January 1960. (Photo: U.S. Navy) MTR#3 (49-64).qxd 11/14/2005 11:14 AM Page 49
