F
 |
Pauline Fiene, 2009
Pauline Fiene, a marine biologist, has studied Hawaiian marine life for over twenty years, discovering over 60 new species of opisthobranchs, two of which have been named for her. Through detailed annual monitoring she discovered the spawning pattern of Hawaii’s most abundant species of coral – the first time spawning had been determined for this species worldwide – and now offers trips for divers to see this rare daylight spawning event. She is coauthor of several books including Molokini - Hawaii’s Island Marine Sanctuary; and Diving Hawaii and Midway; and with Cory Pittman she has just launched the comprehensive Hawaiian nudibranch website, www.seaslugsofhawaii.com. |
 |
Mary Jo Ferris-Fischer, 2000
Mary Jo has been playing Underwater Hockey since 1984. She was first introduced to the sport while working out with a Masters Swim Program in Chicago, Illinois. Mary Jo has played in all of the Underwater Hockey World Championships since 1986 and has been the team captain for five of those tournaments. After 11 years of being President of a Chicago team, she relocated to the Bay Area of California where she continues to play with the Club Puck team in San Jose. |
 |
Dolores E. Fisher, 2000
In 1953, Dolores fell in love with both her husband Mel and the ocean. Together they opened the first dive shop in the USA. She has helped invent prototypes of underwater cameras, spearguns and salvage equipment. In 1959, Dolores beat the World’s Underwater Endurance Record (submerged for 54 hours and 37 minutes) and still holds that women’s record. She’s done expeditions worldwide and helped create the salvage teams that discovered the 1715 Plate Fleet and the Nuestra Senora de la Atocha. |
| |
Dr. Caroline Fife, 2000
Caroline has worked as surface support for Hydrolab II, as a diver at Catalina Marine Science Laboratory, as a technician at TAMU (using hydrogen & oxygen gas mixes) as well as at the Divers Alert Network. She has supervised 10,000 dives (to 140-200 feet) for the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. As a practicing dive medicine physician and lecturer, she conducts hypobaric decompression research for NASA and is currently the first woman president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. |
 |
Susie Fletcher, 2001
Susie dove actively from 1961 to 1975. Her most important work was done behind the scenes in the area of instructor training. Susie completed applications, schedules, test results and reports from NAUI instructor training courses in the USA and Europe. She helped her husband direct 37 IT courses and 13 with other directors. Susie was always there to listen and offer encouragements and advice to both the staff and the candidates. Later in her career she received two Special Service Awards. Susie played a pivotal role in the developments of diving instruction. |
| |
Joan M. Follmer, 2002
‘Joanie’ holds a 500-ton USCG captain’s license and scuba instructor certifications. She became a diver in 1972, an Instructor in 1976, a captain in 1978 and began her own charter operation in New Jersey in 1980. In 1981 she sailed her boat, the Lady Cyana, south to Florida, landed in the Florida Keys and forgot to go home. There she founded and until 1991 operated Lady Cyana Divers in Islamorada. She then returned to diving and charter projects in New Jersey, Florida and the Caribbean. |
 |
Joan Forsberg, 2010
Joan has spent much of her life exploring and researching shipwrecks, and promoting shipwreck diving through public speaking, articles, books, and underwater videography. She was the very first woman to be published in the international Wreck Diving magazine, for which she now works as Copy Editor. Re-elected to an unprecedented third term as President of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago, she has spearheaded research and/or survey work on over 35 shipwrecks, plus 16 shipwrecks in Hawaii and the US coasts. Joan is one of the first women to have successfully completed formal training in underwater archaeology from Great Britain’s Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), as well as becoming an NAS tutor’s assistant. |
 |
Dottie Frazier, 2000
Dottie grew up on the sea; she learned to swim by age 3, donned a home-made mask by age 10 and by her teenage years had become proficient at spear fishing. She began entering and taking prizes in skin diving contents, as the only female competitor! Dottie began teaching skin diving in 1940 and became the first female scuba instructor in the US in the early ‘50s. She spent 2 years as a hard hat diver, manufactured wetsuits for the Navy & the general public, and operated Penguin, a dive shop for 15 years. |
 |
Regina Franklin, 2000
Regina is the first female executive director of DEMA (Diving Equipment & Marketing Association). Her management expertise and approach to implementing change is successfully bringing the scuba diving industry together in a united effort to increase awareness. Regina has a B.S. from Oral Roberts University and a M.A. from the University of West Florida. She has been involved in the industry for seven years and has held positions at Scuba Times magazine and SCUBAPRO. |
 |
Lynn Funkhouser, 2000
Lynn is an internationally published photographer, author, lecturer, environmentalist, adventuress and dive travel leader. Lynn’s underwater images and lectures reflect her commitment to foster action through awareness and appreciation. In 1986 she founded International Marine life Alliance (IMA) and continues to serves as its Vice President as well as being an Advisory Director for Ocean Voice International. In 1994 she received the SeaSpace/ PADI Environmental Awareness Award. |
G
 |
Frances Gaar, 2001
Frances was supervisor and soloist of the famed “Sea Hunt” show at the NY World’s Fair. The only performer to combine scuba with water ballet, she also gave exhibitions on cruise ships, enabling her to pioneer and popularize underwater tours in the Caribbean. Founder of the Aqua Lung School of NY, where she trained thousands of instructors and students, Fran became PADI’s first woman master instructor. As PADI’s first Mid-Atlantic regional director, she conducted its first Instructors’ Institute along with PADI’s president (and co-founder) Ralph Erickson. |
 |
Anita George-Ares, 2009
Anita has masters and doctoral degrees in Marine Biology. Her research at the Smithsonian Museum identified five new fish species. Anita studied fish systematics and behavior with Dr. Eugenie Clark in Japan, Mexico, and the Red Sea. She was a research diver for the Sleeping Shark Expeditions featured in National Geographic’s April 1975 issue. Anita was a scuba instructor for 26 years. She is a published marine scientist and underwater photographer and consults for industry on marine environmental issues. She is an industry representative for the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre’s Proteus Partnership for improving marine biodiversity data. |
 |
Anne Giesecke, Ph.D., 2000
Anne is an underwater archaeologist. She drafted the Abandoned Shipwreck Act and has advised on the International Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. Anne is active in engaging sport divers in government discussions about the management of shipwrecks. She began doing archaeology in the 1960s and began diving in 1979. Anne is a member of the Underwater Society of America and elected to the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology. |
| |
M. Veronica (Ronni) Gilligan, 2004
Ronni earned certification by PADI in 1964 and began wreck diving soon after. In 1968 she became the first woman to dive the “Empress of Ireland” and went back to dive it again 35 years later! Ronni became a YMCA instructor in 1970 and she often taught the disabled to dive. She was an active member of the New York State Divers Assoc. and the Syracuse Scuba Society. Ronni helped to establish the “Our Future in Depth” seminars/conferences and also co-founded and served as Vice President of Underwater Salvage Inc. (Syracuse, NY). She is an avid traveler with dives logged in exotic locations world wide including: Thailand, Australia, Truk, Palau and Kenya. |
 |
Martha Watkins Gilkes, 2002
Owner of FantaSea Island Divers in Antigua, Martha is a PADI Master Instructor, teaching for 30 years. She is a Platinum Pro 5000 diver, member of the American Society of Media Photographers, and author of two books, A Diving Guide to the Eastern Caribbean and Shipwrecks of the Caribbean. As 10-year president of the Eastern Caribbean Safe Diving Association she was instrumental in obtaining the first chamber for the eastern Caribbean. She has served as diving officer for the Antigua and Barbuda Historical Society since 1990, is a member of The Explorers Club and has worked on films with Stan Waterman for over 25 years. she served as President of the Women Divers Hall of Fame from 2005- 2008 and is now WDHOF Fundraising Chairperson. |
| |
Linda Gray, 2000
Linda started her competition career in the US Annual National Free Diving Spearfishing Championships and won the women’s national title in 1973. She has won 4 more championships since then, for a total of 5 of the 8 that she competed in. Linda was ranked #11 diver in the 1980 Nationals, which put her above about half the men! She lives in Southern California where she is a commercial sea urchin diver. Besides Linda’s love for the sea she has a keen interest in wild and domestic animals. |
 |
Deb Greenhalgh , 2010
Founder of Scuba Made Easy LLC NAUI Training Facility and NAUI Course Director and Instructor (nitrox, International Handicap Scuba Association and National Instructors Association of Divers with Disabilities), Deb is dedicated to teaching scuba to the general public, municipalities, scientific divers, and disabled/adaptive divers. As a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Defense, she leads an international technical team producing products and systems for the U.S. Military. She is a WDHOF Trustee and a NAUI Board of Directors, Executive Board officer and Awards Committee Chairman. |
 |
Brigit K. Grimm, 2000
Brigit has been playing underwater hockey since 1984. She’s been a member and captain of all USA Women’s Teams participating in World Championships around the world from 1986 until present (except 1994, when she was pregnant with her second son). Brigit is a leader in developing women’s hockey in the USA by organizing and conducting skills clinics and tournaments. She’s been Athlete of the Year in underwater swimming from US Olympic Committee, (1989) and Athlete of the Year from USOA (1990). |
H
 |
Erika-Leigh Haley, 2000
By the age of 24 Erika had become one of the first female trimix instructors in the world and held the position of National Director of Operations at IANTD Canada. She was the leader of the TransPac Expedition (1995) and Mission Impos (1996). Erika is certified as an EMT/DMT with approximately 150 hyberbaric chamber runs. Currently she is the dive operations manager at Sunset House, Grand Cayman (the first women to hold that position) and serves on the board of advisors for IANTD. |
 |
Michele Hall, 2000
In 1991, Michele left her career in pediatric nursing and entered the field of documentary filmmaking. She has produced 8 award-winning television documentaries, including Shadows in a Desert Sea, Secrets of the Ocean Realm (PBS), Jewels of the Caribbean (National Geographic), and Shark Mountain (PBS). Michele’s interest in large-format filmmaking was sparked in 1994 when she was a Location Manager for IMAX’s first underwater 3D film, “Into The Deep.” In 1999 she produced the IMAX 2D film “Island of the Sharks.” She has continued working in the IMAX format as Location Manager, Line Producer and ‘on-camera talent’ for MacGillivray Freeman Film’s “Coral Reef Adventure,” and later as a Producer on the Warner Bros.-funded / IMAX 3D features “Deep Sea 3D” and “Under the Sea 3D.” |
| |
Norma Hanson, 2001
Norma began hard hat diving in 1949. By 1957 she’d made over 4,000 dives in heavy gear and was the second woman to join California’s Piledrivers, Bridge & Dockworkers Union (Local 2375). Norma held the women’s world depth record for diving to 220 feet on air in the 1950s and also performed for the glass bottom boats at Catalina Island. In her 50 years as a commercial diver she served as foreman and tender on pile-wrapping and harbor maintenance jobs, did harbor inspections and traveled the world training other commercial divers. |
| |
CDR Gina Harden, 2003
Gina is the 7th female to become a US Navy Diving & Salvage Officer. She was Barge Operations Officer for the USS Monitor Expedition (2001, 2002) and has worked around the world as a US Navy Diving Specialist. |
 |
Lotte Hass, 2000
Lotte has been called First Lady of Diving, she was the first underwater model and one of the first female underwater photographers. Her career began in 1949 as the only woman on Hans Hass’ crew during the filming of Adventure in the Red Sea, during which Lotte dove using a Drager closed circuit rebreather - which she learned to operate in the water! She has co-produced numerous films and co-written many books that document the adventures aboard their research vessel Xarifa. |
 |
Anne Davis Hasson, 2010
Anne is co-Founder of Aggressor Fleet – an international live-aboard dive yacht company. Anne and her husband Wayne Hasson are the modern architects of the luxury live-aboard that began in 1984 with the launching of the Cayman Aggressor. Anne is responsible for Marketing and Sales at Aggressor Fleet and has spearheaded many innovative programs to keep divers diving, accommodating more than 100,000 divers and their children on Aggressor Fleet yachts. Aggressor Fleet has vessels at 11 dive destinations including Cayman, Belize, Turks & Caicos, Utila, Dominican Republic, Kona, Cocos Island, Galapagos, Fiji, Palau and the Maldives. |
 |
Hillary Hauser, 2000
Hillary has been writing about the underwater world for over 30 years, emphasizing adventure, exploration, travel and marine life. She’s published numerous books, written for multiple magazines, and been a marine reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press and an editor of Skin Diver magazine (late 1960s). She has worked as an underwater consultant for television network films and written the Compton’s Encyclopedia listing on the History of Diving. Hillary is the director of Heal the Ocean in Santa Barbara, California. |
| |
Joyce S. Hayward, 2001
Joyce, the “Lady of the Lakes,” has served as an officer in national, regional and Canadian organizations and was appointed by the governor of Ohio to advise shipwreck management in that state. She does underwater photography, creating and presenting multi-projector programs at major conventions where she is frequently the only woman shipwreck speaker. Joyce also organizes courses in underwater archaeology. She was featured on a PBS special, “The Great Lakes In Depth,” for her work in shipwreck and marine biology education. |
 |
Mehgan Heaney-Grier, 2000
Mehgan never planned on becoming a champion freediver, but in October 1996 that is just what happened. At age 18, she formally introduced the sport of freediving to the United States. On one breath of air she plunged to 155 feet, establishing the first-ever constant weight freediving record for both men and women in the USA. Less than one year later, in August 1997, she challenged the depths again, setting a new USA freediving record in the constant weight category at 165 feet. Utilizing her aquatic expertise Mehgan spent several years encountering sharks, alligators and other aquatic creatures documenting and observing their behavior. This lead to her adventures being featured in many documentaries including her own series on Animal Planet titled "Extreme Contact". A woman who has always gravitated towards the 'extremes', Mehgan currently splits her time between the ocean that surrounds her home in the Florida Keys, and the mountains in Colorado where she is working on her Biology and Anthropology degree's at CU in Boulder. |
 |
Jill Heinerth, 2000
Jill is known for bringing technology to expeditions that have taken her to extreme environments including the inside of icebergs in Antarctica. She has participated in several projects with National Geographic Magazine and Television and coordinated the Underwater Unit for a Hollywood feature film. Jill's writing and photography has been seen in magazines all over the world including National Geographic, Smithsonian and numerous diving publications. Jill was honored as Canadian Technical Diver of the Year and a Fellow of the National Speleological Society. She has received international recognition for her work as a documentary filmmaker including two CINE Golden Eagles, a Gold Aurora and top honors from the Explorer?s Club Film Festival and International HD Film Festival. Jill still teaches cave and technical diving in her spare time and is a member of the Board of Directors of the US Deep Caving Team. |
 |
Martha Herb, 2007
Captain Herb was one of the first three women officers to graduate from the Navy School of Diving and Salvage in Washington, DC. Her diving career boasts such feats as oversight of the Underwater Hull Cleaning program, Officer in Charge of the Second Class Diving School for the Naval Surface Forces in the Atlantic Fleet, and underwater surveys of the USS Arizona and the USS Utah as well as various civilian underwater wrecks. Martha's service as a Navy Diving Officer culminated in her selection as Commanding Officer of both a Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit and Navy Ordnance Safety and Security Activity. |
 |
CDR Rene S. Hernandez, Ph.D., 2004
Rene started diving in high school and in 1971 received dual degrees in Marine Biology Technology and Professional Diving. In 1976 she became a diver for The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while she was working as a Survey Technician aboard the NOAA Ship “Oceanographer”. Rene went on to receive her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and joined the Navy in 1988. Later she integrated her neuroscience experience with her passion for diving, as a Research Physiologist at the Naval Medical Research Center in the Operational and Undersea Medicine Department with her primary focus being on researching hyperbaric oxygen toxicity. |
| |
Vallorie J. Hodges, 2004
Vallorie has been involved in the diving industry since 1983; she is a Master Instructor, scientific diver and has more than 7,100 dives. She is the Dive Safety Officer for the Oregon Coast Aquarium, where she recruits, trains and manages 150 volunteer and staff divers. Vallorie
has served on the boards of the American Academy of Underwater Science and the Association of Dive Program Administrators. Her experiences have spanned careers in law enforcement, public safety diving, dive instruction, journalism, light commercial diving, scientific diving,
dive equipment testing, and working with public aquariums as an aquarist and dive safety officer. She is also an accomplished musician. |
 |
Edith D. Hoffman, 2000
Edith was certified in 1978. She initiated the USS San Diego’s Aqua-Women dives (1980) and directed that project for six years. She is a past president of the Long Island Diver Association and produced their film festivals (1984-1992). Edith helped gain access to the first NY State property for diving and is an activist in protecting the oceans and the ability of divers to police themselves without government intervention. She is a recipient of the BTS Diver of the Year Award (1986). To plant the seeds and demonstrate the benefits of underwater exploration in the minds of future generations of Divers, Edith is now writting a book for "mature children" about some of her experiences underwater in different parts of the world. |
 |
LCDR Linda C. Hubbell, USNR (Ret), 2005
Linda completed PADI Open Water Certification in '72 while studying Marine Biology. Commissioned in the Navy in'74 she worked in hydro acoustics; in '76 she attended US Navy 2nd Class Diving School, becoming the first woman officer certified a US Navy SCUBA Diver. She was involved with Navy's mammal research programs; research studies associated in restoration of the reef system in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; Marine Fouling Studies, Environmental Impact Studies for the Hawaiian Islands and Marine Mammal Medical Research. In '79 she dove JIM and MK12. Today Linda continues to conduct research supporting the Department of Defense. |
 |
Maria Hults, 2000
Maria began diving in the 1950s. She was one of the first women NAUI instructors and later became a NAUI instructor trainer. She is a PADI instructor as well, and certifies over 100 divers per year. She’s trained Green Berets, Fire Department Rescue Teams, and FBI Underwater Evidence Teams. As a photojournalist, Maria has contributed her photographs to leading travel and dive magazines. Her book Great Dive Destinations of the World is a result of images captured on her photo-adventure tours. |
 |
Lauren Hutton, 2007
Lauren Hutton is an icon. The world’s first supermodel, she appeared on 25 Vogue covers, became a highly successful actress, hosted a nightly national interview show, produced and narrated documentary films, and in 2002, launched her signature line of cosmetics: Lauren Hutton’s Good Stuff. Lauren has been diving worldwide since the 1960s, using her celebrity status to promote marine conservation and the sport of diving in countless interviews, articles, and celebrity appearances at dive shows. An avid shark conservationist, Lauren is a strong supporter of the Shark Research Institute. |
I
 |
Dr. Darlene M. Iskra, Commander, USN (ret), 2008
Dr. Iskra entered the Navy via Officer Candidate School in March 1979. After completing the Naval School of Diving and Salvage in Washington, D.C. as one of the first female Special Operations Officers, she reported to her first ship, the USS Hector (AR-7) in December 1980. As Diving Officer for the Hector, the only navy dive locker in northern California, she was responsible for the underwater ship’s husbandry of Navy surface ships stationed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. During that two year tour, she supervised all of the ship’s underwater husbandry operations; conducted the first underwater propeller change overseas, in Yokosuka harbor, Japan; conducted underwater ship repairs and security swims for the USS Kennedy Carrier Battle Group in Mombassa harbor, Kenya; and successfully ensured the certification of the dive boat’s portable surface supplied air system.
During her 21 years in the Navy, she served on four different salvage ships, the USS Grasp (ARS-51), the USS Preserver (ARS-8), the USS Hoist (ARS-40), and the USS Opportune (ARS-41) where she served as Commanding Officer 1990-1993. Throughout her shipboard tours, Dr. Iskra was on hand during all diving evolutions, from training to operational dives. Dr. Iskra was the first woman in the Navy to command a commissioned vessel, taking over the ship in Naples, December 1990. While in command, her crew participated in the clean-up in Miami and Miami harbor in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Dr. Iskra retired from the Navy as a Commander in April 2000.
After her retirement, Dr. Iskra attended graduate school at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology in December 2007, specializing in the Military and Gender, Work and Family. Dr. Iskra currently serves on the Board of the Alliance for National Defense, and is a Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Research. She is currently working as the Deputy Director for the Navy's Leadership Education and Development program at the University of Maryland |
J
 |
Paula M. Jerman, 2001
Paula is president of the Long Island Divers Association and produces their annual film festivals. She has been a PADI specialty instructor for 10 years. Paula is dedicated to promoting all aspects of scuba diving; she lectures at dive clubs and seminars, coordinates charters (including AquaWoman dives), and has helped to preserve important local dive sites. She has been actively involved with the Moriches Reef Project and serves on their board. Paula has been featured in various articles related to dive education, safety, conservation and general promotion of the sport. |
| |
Connie Johnson, 2002
The first woman to hold the position of magazine editor in the Petersen Publishing library of action male-oriented magazines, Connie, as managing editor of Skin Diver magazine from 1956 to 1987, was an active participant in the evolution of diving. As a journalist she documented the events of diving for over thirty years and was involved in the development of the many facets of the sport. These transitions over time included the formation of organizations, the advancements in equipment and technology, and changing directions of divers’ interests. |
|
