Albert Tillman

:: Albert Tillman - Distinguished Service - 1964

Al Tillman was a pioneer in scuba training and diving history. He co-founded many recreational scuba programs, wrote many of the early instruction materials was a leader in several of the diving instruction associations for over forty years.

Al Tillman was born in Los Angeles on January 16, 1928. Growing up near Redondo Beach led to his deep interest in the ocean. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard at the end of World War II, where he had the opportunity to dive in the South Pacific. While stationed in Hawaii, Tillman continued his diving and completed classes at the University of Hawaii.

In 1949, Tillman married Ruth McIntyre. Tillman earned a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC) (1950) and played football at USA. Tillman became Director of Sports and Underwater Activities for Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation in 1952.

In 1953, Al Tillman and Bev Morgan (L.A. County Lifeguard) took a special diving course at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. Tillman and Morgan then returned to their work with L.A. County in 1953 and developed a new program to train diving instructors of the newborn sport of

scuba diving. Al Tillman and Bev Morgan developed and launched the first sport scuba diving instruction program in the world through the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation in 1954.

Tillman continued his education and earned a Master of Science Degree in Physical Education from California State University, Los Angeles (1956). He acquired 50 units toward a Doctorate of Philosophy at USC (1957-1964). In addition, he also did graduate work at Loyola Law School. Tillman was a Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies at California State University, Los Angeles from 1956 through 1988.

Tillman became a Professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He created the first university degree program in underwater recreation and leisure studies and wrote the first college text books in this area. Tillman was Faculty Advisor for the first college scuba club at California State University, Los Angeles.

In 1956 Tillman was a Founder of the Underwater Photographic Society (UPS) in Los Angeles. Also in 1956, Tillman co-produced the first public diving instruction film, Introduction To Skin Diving.

During his long, distinguished career. Tillman was an accomplished underwater photographer. He won numerous awards for his underwater photography. In 1957, he co-founded the International Underwater Film Festival with his actress and diving friend, Zale Parry. Tillman and Parry were Producers and Directors of the Film Festival in Santa Monica, CA. Tillman and Zale Parry planned organized and ran the Film Festival for 12 years. Tillman was a Technical Advisor on the classic television series, Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges.

Tillman co-authored with William Starr one of the earliest sport diving books, Underwater Recreation, published by Los Angeles County.

During 1959, Tillman became Contributing Editor for Skin Diver Magazine. Tillman and fellow Skin Diver Contributing Editor Neal Hess began development of a new international sport diving organization. The two visionaries founded the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) in 1960. He directed the first NAUI Instructor Course in Houston, Texas, in 1960. Members of that first NAUI Instructor Course is like reading a who's who of sport diving.

Tillman served as the first NAUI President and Executive Director. He had the distinction of being NAUI Instructor #0001. Tillman was the President of NAUI for five years. He continued to serve on NAUI's Board of Directors for almost a decade and directed NAUI Leadership Courses until the late 1980's

In 1960, Tillman conducted the first tri-certification instructor class (YMCA/L.A. County/NAUI). He was also a Member of the YMCA National Skin and SCUBA Committee for four years, and Pacific Coast Commissioner. In 1961, he authored the milestone early diving book Underwater Education.

In 1962 Tillman took a sabbatical from teaching at CalState University and moved to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island where he founded and directed the first dive resort, the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO). This was the world's first dedicated diving resort. In 1969 Tillman sold UNEXSO and went back to teaching at California State University, Los Angeles.

In 1998 Tillman wrote and published an autobiography, I Thought I Saw Atlantis, Reminiscences of a Pioneer Skin and Scuba Diver. It is a personal account of recreational diving's formative years. Al and his son, Tom, established the Scuba America Historical Center and Al also traveled and lectured on sport diving history.

Tillman wrote the History of NAUI in 2000, which documents the early diving instruction association

In January 2001, Al Tillman was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.

Following almost 25 years of research, in 2000 Zale Parry and Al Tillman published the first volume of their long-awaited book, Scuba America, The Human History Of Sport Diving. The two authors and pioneering divers planned four-volumes of Scuba America, which is about the 100 events and 100 great divers who formed the sport of scuba diving.

For his many years of very productive dedication to diving, Al Tillman was recognized with many honors and awards:

the NOGI Award for Distinguished Service (1964)
Honored Photographer from the International Underwater Film Festival (1968)
Reaching Out Award and induction into the DEMA Diving Hall of Fame (1990)
The Los Angeles County Underwater Instructor's Association Outstanding Contribution Award (1994)
NAUI Lifetime Achievement Award (1998)
Induction into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in the Cayman Islands (2001)