Robert Clark

:: Robert Clark - Sports / Education - 1997

Bob was born 11/12/37 in Sidney, Nebraska, where he lived until age 6, when he moved to Catalina Island where his father was stationed during WWII. It was there he started skin diving and developed a love for water and the sea.

After the war ended, he moved back to Sidney until 1949 when the family once again moved to California (Palo Alto.) They stayed there for 2 more years, but his father missed his hunting and felt there was a better life for them back in Sidney, and there the family remained until his parent's deaths in 1988.

Bob graduated from Sidney High in 1956 and from University of Northern Colorado (Colorado State College at that time) in 1960 with degrees in Art and Business.

After graduation, Bob, along with his wife, and son moved back to Sidney to join the family business and lived there until 1971 when they moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, and it has been their home ever since. The move was precipitated by the need for greater population to support his growing dive business, and of course, the family's deep love for the mountains.

Bob and his wife Marilyn have been married since 1957. They have three children, Gary, born 1959, Linda, born 1961, and Laurie who was born in 1962. They also have two grandchildren by Laurie and her husband John Humpal, Charlie and James Humpal who were born in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Our son Gary has a wife, Bettie.

Bob started skin diving at age 7 on Catalina Island. He had been a water rat almost from birth, but the ocean became a basic part of his life, even at that tender age. He started Scuba diving in 1960 as a hobby, and those were the days before there was any real opportunity to take formal instruction, so he was largely self-taught. With his self described excessive-compulsive personality, he went about learning to the extent that when he finally decided to become an instructor, he found he was better informed that those teaching the instructor course.

The reason Bob became an instructor was because he had decided to sell scuba equipment as a means of supporting his hobby, only to find that there wasn't anyone to buy it because no one knew how to do it. So, he became an instructor and went into the diving equipment business. Bob opened his first store in 1965 in Sidney, Nebraska (known worldwide as the scuba capital of the universe. By 1970 he had a small chain of retail diving equipment stores in Colorado and Nebraska.

Bob became an Instructor Trainer along the way, and developed a national reputation for his teaching and the magnitude of his sales in the very small market in western Nebraska. A friend put him in touch with a gentleman by the name of John Gaffney and in 1966 Bob worked with John and helped to develop the National Association of Scuba Diving stores, (NASDS.) However, by 1970 NASDS had headed in a direction that Bob was uncomfortable with, and as a result several of those who had been instrumental in the development of NASDS went together and founded Scuba Schools International. SSI has since become the second largest certification agency for scuba diving in the world.

In 1972 Bob was offered the opportunity to write the Open water diver text for Jeppesen-Sanderson. It subsequently became the best selling scuba text of the time. In 1974 he assumed control and ownership of Scuba Schools International, and thanks to the opportunity to develop a text that reflected his views on scuba instruction, he was able to put together the first integrated instructional system in diving. SSI has since become world renown for cutting edge instructional systems and has been copied by every other scuba agency in the world.

Bob recognizes that he has been blessed over the years with wonderful employees and has been equally blessed with a modicum of success in our small industry. As a result of his achievements Bob has been honored with the three awards that are meaningful in our business. To begin with, in 1994 he received the PLATINUM PRO 5000 award for having made 5000 scuba dives and for distinguished contributions to the sport and business of Scuba diving.

In 1996, he was inducted into the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame and was presented with the REACHING OUT AWARD. Only 33 people had been so honored at that time, and included such people as Jacques Cousteau, Lloyd Bridges, and others who have made the sport of diving a very special activity.

In 1997 the Academy of Underwater Arts and Science presented him with the NOGI award in Education. This was in honor of the numerous texts and educational systems he has developed over the years.

Also in 1997, Bob founded the Platinum Pro Foundation. It is a non-profit dedicated to the development of children. While the primary emphasis is on getting them involved in the sport of scuba diving, it is equally focused on helping underprivileged children, and educating all children about the delicate nature of the waters of our world. This is accomplished in two principle ways. First by providing scholarships to worthy kids for participation in programs like Scuba Rangers (a scuba program for kids 8-12) and second through a web site, PLATINUM PRO FOUNDATION that is a resource and link to information about the seas, as well as a great many underwater photos that have been donated by a large number of top underwater photographers for free use by the children.

As a kind of "full circle" redemption for the split up of NASDS and SSI in 1970, in 1999, Scuba Schools International assumed ownership of the National Association of Scuba Diving Stores, (NASDS,) and added significantly to their worldwide presence.

As a final note, SSI teaching materials have now been translated into 22 languages and are used in more than 585 countries. It is the premier certification program in many parts of the world and is expanding each year.