1. Don Walsh was an American oceanographer, US Navy officer and marine policy specialist.
22 Facts About Don Walsh
1. 2.
Don Walsh served 24 years in the US Navy upon graduation from the Academy, spanning the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
3.
Don Walsh served as a submarine officer and was a qualified Navy Diver.
4.
Don Walsh attained the rank of captain by the time he retired.
5.
Don Walsh spent fifteen years at sea, mostly in submarines, and was a submarine commander.
6.
Don Walsh worked with ocean-related research and development for the Navy.
7.
Don Walsh was appointed as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development from 1971 to 1972.
8.
Don Walsh continued to support ocean sciences in his work on the Ocean Sciences Board at the National Academy of Sciences.
9.
Don Walsh managed a marine consulting business beginning in 1976, and as of 2010 conducted about five deep-sea expeditions per year.
10.
Don Walsh held a faculty appointment at Oregon State University in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.
11.
Don Walsh lived with his wife, Joan, in Sitkum, Oregon, on a ranch which they bought 1992.
12.
Don Walsh remained active with the National Academy of Sciences and the Ocean Elders organization.
13.
Don Walsh was on-site to congratulate Victor Vescovo when he completed his own record-breaking series of dives in the Challenger Deep in 2019.
14.
Don Walsh died at his home in Myrtle Point, Oregon on November 12,2023, at the age of 92.
15.
Don Walsh visited the wreck of the RMS Titanic on board the submersible MIR 2 on 20 July 2001.
16.
Don Walsh joined the team that oversaw the dive of the Deepsea Challenger mission, during which James Cameron dived solo to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, on March 26,2012.
17.
Don Walsh was the inspiration for Chris Wright's 2015 book No More Worlds to Conquer, and his interview constitutes the opening chapter.
18.
Don Walsh was appointed by Presidents Carter and Reagan to the US National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, was a member of the Law of the Sea Advisory Committee for the US Department of State, and served as a member of the Marine Board of the US National Research Council from 1990 to 1993.
19.
In 2001, Don Walsh was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
20.
Don Walsh was named one of the world's great explorers by Life magazine.
21.
The US Navy awarded Don Walsh its Distinguished Public Service Award.
22.
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Legion of Merit to Lieutenant Don Walsh, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from January 1959 to January 1960 as Officer-in-Charge of the Bathyscaph Trieste.