Interviewer:Tyler Priest

Affiliation: University of Houston

Dick Frisbie was born in California but grew up in South Africa. He attended Virginia Tech, gaining a degree in mechanical engineering before working for Pratt & Whitney for three years. After several years in the U.S. Army, including time spent in-country during the Vietnam War, Frisbee returned stateside. At Old Dominion University, he earned a master’s degree in physical oceanography. He took on with a firm called Ocean Systems, based near Washington, D.C., working as a diving systems engineer. There, Frisbie was involved in some of the very first industrial uses of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for both general offshore and marine petroleum uses. Frisbie stayed with Ocean Systems as the firm became part of Oceaneering in 1984 after an acquisition; by then Frisbie had become general manager for ROVs. Frisbie continued to work for Oceaneering for decades, in a multitude of roles.