Richard Moon, M.D., Named 2021 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year

Divers Alert Network and Rolex are pleased to announce that Richard Moon, M.D., has been selected as the 2021 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year. The award was presented at a virtual event on June 5. 

Dr. Moon is a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University and the medical director of the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology. He is also a former medical director of DAN. Throughout his 40-year career in dive medicine and research, Dr. Moon has sought to gain a better understanding of cardiorespiratory function on the human body when subjected to environmental conditions such as being deep underwater or at high altitude. His research into the effects of decompression has benefitted hundreds of divers suffering from decompression sickness and other dive-related injuries. Through his commitment and significant contributions to dive medicine, Dr. Moon has made diving safer for all. 

For more than three decades, DAN and Rolex have collaborated to honor an individual who has made substantial contributions to dive medicine, safety or research and to name that person the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year. This award is one of the most significant honors in diving. It began in the late 1980s as a generous grant to DAN from Rolex to recognize the organization’s work on behalf of divers. The award evolved to feature a Rolex watch for the recipient along with a donation to DAN to help fund dive safety research.

“Any of Dr. Moon’s 40 years of service in dive medicine could have earned him this prestigious award; we hope he will accept this token of recognition for his lifetime of achievements,” said DAN president and CEO Bill Ziefle. “We are always looking for stand-out individuals who are making positive impacts on diving. We want to honor Dr. Moon’s heroic work on behalf of divers with this award.”

About DAN: The world’s most recognized and respected dive safety organization, Divers Alert Network (DAN) has remained committed to the health and well-being of divers for 40 years. The organization’s research, medical services and global-response programs create an extensive network that supports divers with vital services such as injury prevention, educational programs and lifesaving evacuations. Every year, hundreds of thousands of divers around the world look to DAN as their dive safety organization. Join the DAN community or learn more at DAN.org.