DAN America announces the pending retirement of Peter B. Bennett, Ph.D., D.Sc., its founder and President June 30, 2003. Since 1980 DAN has grown from a single telephone on Dr. Bennett’s desk at Duke University Medical Center’s Hyperbaric Center to become the leading diving safety organization in the world. DAN now has a staff of 80 employees, its own headquarters building, The Peter B. Bennett Center, and serves over 200,000 members in the DAN America region as well as nearly 100,000 members from its International DAN partners throughout the world. Dr. Bennett will remain as Senior Director with the Duke Hyperbaric Center and Professor of Anesthesiology at Duke while continuing his teaching and research.
Dr. Bennett began his research with the British Royal Navy in 1953 and after a two-year period with the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (DCIEM) in Canada, was invited as a tenured professor in 1972 to direct the large hyperbaric system installed at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. During his unprecedented career, he has published over 200 papers, six books and received many distinguished awards for his contributions to science, medicine and diving safety, as well as honorary degrees.
DAN started as a component of the Hyperbaric Center for its first ten years. In 1990, under the direction of Dr. Bennett, DAN became a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation and International DAN was created as another 501(c)3 corporation in order to make DAN truly international.
The DAN Board of Directors will select and authorize DAN management to engage a professional search firm to assist finding a replacement for Dr. Bennett as President and CEO of DAN America.
