Andreas Rechnitzer

Andreas Rechnitzer
Crew of the Bathyscaphe Trieste. Rechnitzer is third from the left
Born	(1924-11-30)November 30, 1924 Escondido, California, US
Died	August 22, 2005(2005-08-22) (aged 80) La Mesa, California, US
Alma mater	Michigan State University, B.S. (1947) University of California, Los Angeles, M.S. (1951) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Ph.D. (1955)
Awards	Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award
Scientific career
Fields	Oceanography
Thesis	A serological approach to the systematics of the viviparous sea-perches, family Embiotocidae (1955)
Doctoral advisor	Carl Hubbs

Andreas Buchwald Rechnitzer (November 30, 1924 – August 22, 2005) was an American oceanographer. With Carl Hubbs, he discovered the striped yellow butterfly fish that served as the logo of the Birch Aquarium. He helped develop the first SCUBA diving training program for ocean scientists, which included such innovations as ditch-and-don, buddy breathing, and the buddy system. He was a member of the US Navy Office of Naval Research team that negotiated the purchase of the bathyscape Trieste, and was the scientist in charge of Project Nekton in 1960, during which the Trieste entered the Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the world's oceans. For this he received the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award. He joined the scientific staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he was the Oceanographer of the Navy from 1970 to 1984, and was the Senior Scientist at Science Applications International Corporation from 1985 to 1998.