Bret Gilliam
| Bret Clifton Gilliam | |
|---|---|
 Bret Gilliam in 1996 |
|
| Born | February 3, 1951 Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Residence | Arrowsic, Maine |
| Occupation | author, entrepreneur, expert witness, explorer |
Bret Clifton Gilliam is a pioneering technical diver. He is most famous as the founder of TDI, and as the one time holder of the world record for deep diving on air.
Gilliam is a multimillionaire from the sale of several businesses that included Technical Diving International (TDI) and Uwatec. Gilliam formed the consulting service Ocean Tech in 1971 and currently provides expert witness testimony for diving related legal cases.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Bret Gilliam was born February 3, 1951 at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland to Commander Gill Gilliam (retired as Captain) and Jeanne Gilliam. He was the first of three children. His younger brother Chris was murdered in 1972 at the age of 16 while attending an outdoor concert in Puerto Rico. His sister Kathleen is a nurse in Maine.
Gilliam met Gretchen Andersen in 1971 in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. They were reunited after 27 years in 1998 and married on October 21, 2000 in Maine. Their primary residence is in Arrowsic, Maine with additional residences located in Camden and Greenville, Maine. They also spend time in their 48-foot (15 m) motor yacht named Encore.
[edit] Education
In 1959, the YMCA developed the first nationally organized course and certified their first Skin and scuba diving instructors,[1] and Gilliam began his diving training with Lt. Chuck Brestle while his family was stationed at the Naval Air Station Key West that same year.[2][3]
From 1965 to 1966 he attended Virginia Beach High School until the school system split students to attend First Colonial High School. He remained at First Colonial High School until 1967 when his family moved. He graduated from Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Maine in 1969.
Gilliam then went on to attend the University of Maine and Bowdoin College where he studied history and literature.[3] Gilliam eventually left his undergraduate studies to pursue a business career by starting Ocean Tech.[3]
[edit] Career
Gilliam held several diving jobs and competed as a semi-professional surfer while in high school and college.[3]
In 1971, Gilliam was a diving Supervisor for Vocaline Air Sea Technology (VAST Inc.). The VAST Inc. contract took him to the Caribbean where he worked to develop nitrox and decompression procedures for their dive teams.[4] It was here that Gilliam's interest in underwater photography began. Their work was to record the "visible vortex that came off the propeller" of submarines.[2] In 1972, Gilliam's dive buddy was attacked by an oceanic whitetip shark during a project and died.[2][5] That same year, he also created his consulting company Ocean Tech in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
V.I. Divers Ltd. was founded by Gilliam in 1973 in St. Croix as a dive resort that not only catered to recreational divers but also scientific divers.[4] In 1977, Gilliam served as the founder and president of AMF Yacht Charters Ltd. providing luxury motor yacht charters.[4] Both companies were sold in 1985 and after a short break, Gilliam resumed his work with ship charters as the Vice President, chief executive officer (CEO) and Director of Ship Operations for Ocean Quest International in 1988.[4][6] Gilliam also began conducting research on dive computer safety during this time[7] and remained with Ocean Quest until 1990.
Gilliam performed a deep air dive on February 14, 1990 at a site named "Mary's Place" in Roatán to 452 feet (138 m).[6][8] Gilliam later reached 475 feet (145 m) in October 1993 to better his own record.[6][8]
From 1990 to 1992, Gilliam was the President of SEA VENTURES LTD as well as CEO and Master of the 142-foot (43 m) motor yacht P’zzaz.[4]
[edit] International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers
In 1991, Gilliam joined Dick Rutkowski, Tom Mount and Billy Deans on the board of directors for International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). During this time, Gilliam also served as the vice-president of the company.[4]
Gilliam co-authored two books over this time period in addition to his work on the training materials used in IANTD courses.[6][9]
He remained in this position with IANTD until 1994 when he separated and formed International Training Inc.
[edit] International Training Inc
International Training Inc. is the parent company for the Technical Diving International (TDI), Scuba Diving International (SDI), and Emergency Response Diving International (ERDI), diving certification agencies headquartered in Topsham, Maine.
TDI was founded in 1993 by Bret Gilliam and Mitch Skaggs after a disagreement between directors caused a split away from IANTD.[10][11]
Gilliam remained President and Chief Executive Officer of International Training Inc until February 5, 2004 when it was sold to investors backing Brian Carney who had been serving as the General Manager.[12]
[edit] Uwatec
Gilliam took over as vice-president and CEO of UWATEC USA from Sean Griffin in 1996.[13] Gilliam assisted UWATEC's founder and owner, Heinz Ruchti, with the sale of the company to Johnson Outdoors the following year.[13] Gilliam stepped down in November of 1998 when Johnson Outdoors merged UWATEC USA with ScubaPro and relocated the company to El Cajon, California.[13] Until 2000, Gilliam remained a consultant to the company.[13]
In 2000, Gilliam served as the president and CEO of a medical program for divers, DiveSafe Insurance Inc. and later sold the company in 2004.[4]
[edit] Publishing
Gilliam has served as the publisher or editor of several magazines over the years.[4]
- 1992 to 1995 - Senior Editor of Rodale’s Scuba Diving magazine
- 1996 to 1999 - Publisher of Deep Tech Journal
- 1999 to 2001 - Senior Editor of Rodale’s Scuba Diving magazine
- 2001 to 2005 - President of G2 Publishing Inc., publishers of Fathoms magazine
- 2005 to 2009 - Senior Editor Emeritus for Diving Adventure magazine[14]
Gilliam continues to serve as a contributing editor for diving periodicals such as Diver, Journal of Diving History, Tech Diving Mag, and Undercurrent.[4]
[edit] Service Activities
Gilliam was elected to the Board of Directors by the National Association of Underwater Instructors membership in 1992.[4] During his eight years on the board, he served as the chairman from 1994 to 1995.
[edit] Certifications
[edit] Diving instructor
|
|
[edit] Licenses
- United States Coast Guard Merchant Marine Officer's License as Master
- Homeland Security/TWIC security credentials issued as Maritime Officer
- Additional Licenses: (Unlimited tonnage and Ocean Master licenses from Bahamas, Panama, and Liberia, non-current since retirement)
- TWIC credentials (security clearance ID), Dept. of Homeland Security, March 2009
- Single engine aircraft pilot
- Submersible pilot, Perry and Kittredge vessels to 1800 fsw depth
[edit] Awards
- Recipient of Outstanding Contribution to Diving award from NAUI, 1979 and 1998
- Recipient of Medal of Excellence from Beneath The Sea Diving Conference, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Election to Who’s Who in Scuba Diving by Academy of Marine Sciences & Undersea Research 1993
- Election to Who’s Who of the World Diving Community Diving Almanac 2008-2009
- Fellow National member of The Explorers Club 1993-current
- Diver of the Year Beneath the Sea 2004
- Medal of Excellence for Honors in Education Beneath The Sea 2005
- SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Diver Honors 1998
- Commendation from NBC Television for 1983 America's Cup Filming
- Legend of the Sea, Beneath the Sea, 2005-2010 (Six years in a row)
- Two Commendations from U.S. Coast Guard for Lifesaving and Rescue, 1977, 1979
[edit] Select publications
- Gilliam, Bret C; Von Maier, Robert; Crea, John. (1992). Deep diving: an advanced guide to physiology, procedures and systems.. Watersport Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-922769-30-3.
- Mount, Tom; Gilliam, Bret C (1993). Mixed Gas Diving: The Ultimate Challenge for Technical Diving.. Watersport Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0922769419.
- Neal, Jan; Gilliam, Bret C (1995). Nitrox, A User Friendly Guide to Enriched Air Mixtures.. Technical Diving International.
- Gilliam, Bret C (1995). Scuba Times Magazine's Complete Guide to Caribbean Liveboard Dive Boats.. GBP, Inc.. ISBN 0964762803.
- Gilliam, Bret C (2007). Diving Pioneers and Innovators. New World Publications. ISBN 1878348426.
[edit] References
- ^ Richardson, Drew (1999). "A brief history of recreational diving in the United States.". South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal 29 (3). http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6019. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
- ^ a b c Fields, Peter (1999). "Bret Gilliam". Dive New Zealand (54). http://66.70.225.22/backissues/54gilliam.html. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ a b c d "Email discussion with User:Gene Hobbs about Gilliam's background in January, 2011". Personal communication. 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gilliam, Bret (2011). Curriculum vitae.
- ^ Thomas, Pete (1996-11-20). "25 Years Later, Memories of Shark Attack Remain Vivid". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-20/sports/sp-1059_1_sand-bass. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ a b c d Gilliam, Bret; Von Maier, Robert; Crea, John. (1992). Deep diving: an advanced guide to physiology, procedures and systems.. Watersport Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0-922769-30-3.
- ^ Hill Jr, RK; Gilliam, Bret C. (1990). "A comparison of the incidence of decompression sickness in men and women divers using decompression tables and diving computers for 77,680 dives.". In: Jaap, WC (ed). Advances in Underwater Science...90. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Tenth annual scientific diving symposium.. http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/9564. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- ^ a b Cunningham, Leigh (2006). "Do it right". X-ray Magazine 14. http://www.xray-mag.com/pdfs/xray14/X-Ray14.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ Mount, Tom; Gilliam, Bret (1993). Deep diving: an advanced guide to physiology, procedures and systems.. Watersport Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0922769419.
- ^ van Schaik, Verna (2008-05-21). "How Many Agencies can you Name?". All about technical diving. http://theliquidedge.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-many-agencies-can-you-name.html. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
- ^ Boan, C (2001-01-08). "Are you ready for trimix?". Dive Magazine.
- ^ Lewis, Steve. "TDI/ SDI Press release (archived on "The Deco Stop" - requires log in)". http://thedecostop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5264. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ a b c d Staff (2003-04). "Aladin Air X Nitrox Computers Recalled". Undercurrent. http://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/dive_magazine/2003/AladinAir200304.html. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ Lewis, Steve (2008-11-18). "Fathoms Magazine Gone, Help". Scubaboard.com. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3987028-post15.html. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
