Commander Joseph Dituri is a retired Naval Officer and Ph.D. who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He continuously served on various ships and shore stations where he was involved in hyperbaric system maintenance, saturation diving, rescue, and ship repair. In 1995, he was commissioned into the Special Operations Officer pipeline after earning his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina. After serving three diving tours in this community, he became the Engineering Duty Officer (diver).
He then transferred to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he earned his master's degree in Astronautical Engineering. His master’s thesis was on Orbital Determination with a focus on life support systems. He is an invited speaker on space-related and life-support engineering topics. (E.g.: Featured speaker at the Astronauts to Aquanauts Symposium at Florida State University and the National Spelunking Society Cave Divers Section Symposium on underwater life support.)
Following completion of his master’s, he was assigned as Officer-in-Charge, Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) Diving Systems Detachment (DSD). Under his command, DSD won the white “DS” award for deep submergence excellence and certified the 2000-foot sea water Atmospheric Diving System for fleet use. Upon fielding and initial testing, the team introduced the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System into Naval service and took it on two international engagements. After becoming the Executive Officer, he transferred from DSU to design the transfer under pressure saturation diving template for Navy Submarine Rescue.
His final US Navy position was in the Research, Development, and Acquisition Center – Maritime Systems at Special Operations Command. He served as the Chief Engineer, Program Manager for Undersea Systems Technical and Certification Program, as well as deputy Program Manager for Combat Craft. He designed, built, and created a tailored certification plan for the dry submersible Navy SEALs now utilize to be better prepared for combat when arriving at their destination.
In recognition of his many accomplishments during 28 years of active-duty naval service, Commander Dituri’s awards include:
- Three Navy Achievement Medals
- A Joint Service Achievement Medal
- An Army Commendation Medal
- Four Navy Commendation Medals
- A Joint Service Commendation Medal
- A Joint Meritorious Service Medal
After retirement, Commander Dituri earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with research areas that include life support equipment design, high carbon dioxide environments, as well as hyperbaric and hypobaric medicine. He is a contributing author to Hyperbaric Medical Practice (4th edition), the author of numerous diver-training manuals, a co-author of the Navy Diving Manual, as well as the Tao of Survival Underwater, which has become required reading for all International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers programs and is regarded as an irreplaceable resource for all levels of extended range divers. His most recently published book is The Art and Science of Hyperbaric Medicine, which outlines the mechanisms of action for hyperbaric medicine and educates physicians and practitioners in moving “off-label” (non-FDA cleared for insurance reimbursement) indications to “on-label” indications. Additionally, he has been published in several journals, including those produced by the International Hyperbaric Association, the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society, the American Society of Naval Engineers, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Currently, Dr. Dituri is highly involved in making underwater and space exploration safer.
In the Spring of 2023, Dr. Dituri set the Guinness Book of World Record by living underwater in an isolated, confined, and extreme environment for 100 days. Called Project Neptune 100, the mission had three key goals:
- Research how the human body changes during prolonged hyperbaric pressure
- Draw greater awareness to the need to preserve and protect our oceans
- Outreach to school children with the goal of showing them the value and excitement of pursuing STEM subjects.
Almost 6,000 students were able to meet Dr. Dituri via online conferences and classes. Dozens of researchers spent time underwater with Dr. Dituri to further their work. His Project Neptune 100 research results were reported at the World Extreme Medicine Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in November 2023, and myriad publications came from this endeavor. Dr. Dituri currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Veterans’ Clinical Research at the University of South Florida with a focus on the repair of traumatic brain injury and conducts clinical trials while teaching and lecturing. He is a course director for a 40-hour introductory hyperbaric course approved by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and is an ACCME accredited provider and may designate AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for CME activities that meet the ACCME’s Accreditation Requirements and the requirements of the American Medical Association. Finally, he is an Associate professor of practice at the medical college as well as in the medical engineering department at the University of South Florida.
In November of 2024, Dr. Dituri was awarded the prestigious “Kittinger Medal” for exploration expertise from the Florida Chapter of the Explorers Club. Above water and away from work, Dr. Dituri has three grown children and enjoys writing books, skydiving, and pursuing his lifelong goal of becoming a civilian astronaut.
