Dr. Robert (Bob) L. Helmreich had a long association with the University Scuba Club.

In the Fall of 1975, Dr. Robert Helmreich became the club's third faculty sponsor and was so for many years ( From the Spring semester of 1975 through Fall of 1988).  He was in the psychology department and had worked on the Navy's Sea Lab and Tektite projects and afterwards with NASA's astronaut program.  The first time I saw Dr. Helreich was after coming up from a dive at Mansfield Dam.  He was standing next to his spiffy black Jaguar  covertible sports car.  A group of students had gathered around him to chat.  He was wearing a Navy Parachute Team jacket.  I thought that James Bond had come to visit our club! 

Dr. Helmreich joined the club in the mid sixties. He is shown on the Fall 1967 club membership roster. He was a guest speaker at the University Scuba Club on numerours occassions. His talks would be on Sea Lab, Tektite (both underwater habitats), NASA astronauts or airline pilots. Dr. Helmreich studied group dynamics under stressful conditions. He related stories about astronauts that would not be available to the general public. The last time he spoke to the club was at the club's 25th Anniversary celebration meeting (February 2, 1989) in which he related his memories about the club. Dr. Helmreich was always smiling as he told his stories. He seemed to find humor in whatever he was relating.

Several fun club parties were held when he was living at his Lake Austin home at 3623 West Lake Drive; Austin, Texas 78746. In the late sixties Dr. Helmreich had some remodeling done to his home by club member Doug Duryea. I remember at one of the parties looking a nice skylight that had been installed. Out back, one could walk down a set of stairs to a boat house. Not only did Dr. Helmreich have a nice sports car sitting in his drive but also an old pickup truck that any Texas professor would be proud of!

Dr. Helmreich was a really nice person and missed by all club members.