Robert William Hamilton Jr. (1930 – 16 September 2011), known as Bill, was an American

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

known for his work in hyperbaric

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

Family

He was predeceased by his first wife Beverly, son Beto and daughter Kitty. He was survived by his wife Kathryn (née Faulkner) of nearly 40 years, daughters Lucy and Sally, grandsons, Felix, Bobby, Zach, Tyler and Truman.

Education

He earned his degree in liberal arts at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, followed by a master's degree in animal

reproductive biology Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Reproductive biology includes a wide number of fields: * Reproductive systems * Endocrinology * Sexual development (Puberty) * Sexual maturity * Reproduction * Fertility H ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He earned his Doctoral degree in physiology and

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

in 1964 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Military service

Hamilton served as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

in the U.S. Air Force in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, earning the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross,

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

, and other decorations. He helped solve equipment problems on unsuccessful bailouts as a Life Support Officer, which earned him a

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

recommendation to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as a Scientist

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Underwater sciences

Hamilton left the Air Force with and moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, in 1964, where he met Heinz Schreiner and began his work on the undersea world as a scientist and director of the Ocean Systems environmental physiology and diving research lab in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

Research

Hamilton investigated the effects of gases in hyperbaric and hypobaric environments which led to the development of decompression modelling tools and operational procedures for divers, astronauts, hyperbaric chambers, and tunnel and caisson workers. He was both the physiologist and test subject on the first manned laboratory saturation diving to the continental shelf pressure of 12 ATA (200 msw) in 1965. He founded Hamilton Research, Ltd. (1976), for decompression and hyperbaric research, which developed procedures and techniques to mitigate the effects of High Pressure Neurological Syndrome, and the Diving Computational Analysis Program (DCAP), which he co-developed with David J. Kenyon. Hamilton was the principal investigator of the NOAA Repex Oxygen Exposure tables to assist divers in avoiding oxygen toxicity. These became the basis for most oxygen exposure calculation methods used for saturation and repetitive diving exposures to oxygen in breathing mixtures. In the late 1980s, he developed project-specific custom decompression tables. His work with decompression tables, physiological effects of gases, and methods of managing exposure to oxygen, helped to open up the new field of

technical diving Technical diving (also referred to as tec diving or tech diving) is scuba diving that exceeds the List of diver certification organizations, agency-specified limits of recreational diving for non-Professional diver, professional purposes. Technica ...

. This included work with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developing "Monitor Mix" breathing gas for dives to the USS '' Monitor''. This breathing gas became NOAA Trimix I, with decompression tables designed by Bill Hamilton published in the NOAA Diving Manual.

Publications

R.W. Hamilton contributed to, and authored, a large number of scientific and technical papers, reports, and diving medical and safety workshop Proceedings. Some of these are listed here: * * * * Hamilton Jr, RW. 1999. Round Table Discussion. In: Hamilton RW, Pence DF, Kesling DE, eds. . Nahant, MA: American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * R.W. Hamilton (et al.); with Richard Dunford, Merrill P. Spencer, Drew Richardson. Tarrytown, NY : Hamilton Research, c1994. * Hamilton RW, Schreiner HR (eds). . 9th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number WS2-28-76. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1975; 272 pages. * Neubauer RA, Gottlieb SF, Huan G, Hamilton RW. Letter: . J. Hyperbaric Med 1992; 7(1):57-61. * Hamilton RW, Kizer KW (eds). . 29th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 64WS(NN)4-26-85. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1985; various pages. * Hamilton Jr, RW. 1999. . In: Hamilton RW, Pence DF, Kesling DE, eds. Assessment and Feasibility of Technical Diving Operations for Scientific Exploration. Nahant, MA: American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * Hamilton Jr, RW, In: Blogg, S.L., M.A. Lang, and A. Møllerløkken, editors. 2012. . August 24, 2011, European Underwater and Baromedical Society Symposium, Gdansk. Trondheim: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. * Hamilton Jr, RW; . SPUMS 1997 Volume 27 Number 3. * Hamilton Jr, RW; . SPUMS 1996 Volume 26 Number 3. * Faesecka, K-P; Sterk, W; Hamilton, RW Jr.(eds). . 49th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number . Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 2001; 135 pages. * Freitag, M, Hamilton Jr, RW; 1974 Jun;1(2):175-9. * Schmidt TC, Dorr VA, Hamilton Jr RW. 1973. . Ocean Systems, Inc. UCRI-721 * Hamilton Jr, RW. . In: Jaap, WC (ed). Advances in Underwater Science 90. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Tenth annual scientific diving symposium. Held October 4–7, 1990 at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida * Hamilton RW, Kenyon DJ, Peterson RE. . Technical Report 88-1B. Rockville, MD: NOAA Office of Undersea Research, May 1988. * Hamilton RW, Schane W. 1990 October. . Research report 90-1. Silver Spring, MD: National Undersea Research Program. * Lang, M.A. and R.W. Hamilton (eds.). 1989. . USC Catalina Marine Science Center. 231 p. * Hamilton Jr, RW. Shi, ZY. Schane, W. Chen, BS.. Lee, YC. Fan, ZH. Gu, ZZ, Zhang, LB; . Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 15, No. 1 Supplement, March 1989 * Butler, GL; Mastro, SJ; Hulbert, AW; Hamilton Jr, RW. . In: Cahoon, LB. (ed.) Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Twelfth Annual Scientific Diving Symposium "Diving for Science 1992". Held September 24–27, 1992 at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC. American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * Schneiner HR, Hamilton RW (eds). . 37th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 74(VAL)1-1-88. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1989; 167 pages. * Hamilton, RW Jr. (ed). . 44th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 81(DC)6-1-94. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1995; 71 pages * Hamilton RW, Kenyon DJ, Peterson RE, Butler GJ, Beers DM. . Technical Report 88-1A. Rockville, MD: NOAA Office of Undersea Research, May 1988. * Brubakk, AO. Tonjum, S Holand, B. Peterson, RE. Hamilton Jr, RW. Morild, E. Onarheim, J; . Undersea Biomed Res. 1982 Jun;9(2):81-90.] * Dituri, J. Parsley, K. Hamilton Jr, RW. Whelan, HT; Undersea Hyperb. Med. 2008 July-Aug;35(4) * Hamilton Jr, RW. Powell, MR. Kenyon, DJ. Freitag, M. , ONR Project NR-201-088, Contract N00014-74-C-0424 * Linnarsson, D. Ostlund, A. Sporrong, A. Lind, F. Hesser, CM. Hamilton Jr, RW; Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 16, No. 1 Supplement, March 1990 * Hamilton Jr, RW. Cockrell, WA. Stanton, GR. . Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 16, No. 1 Supplement, March 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Robert William Jr. 1930 births 2011 deaths People from Midland, Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War American Korean War pilots American Vietnam War pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 20th-century American psychologists Decompression researchers