Charles Wesley Shilling

Captain Charles Wesley Shilling (September 21, 1901 – December 23, 1994) was an American physician who was known as a leader in the field of undersea and hyperbaric medicine, research, and education. Shilling was widely recognized as an expert on deep sea diving, naval medicine, radiation biology, and submarine capabilities. In 1939, he was Senior Medical Officer in the rescue of the submarine U.S.S. Squalus.

Background Shilling was born September 21, 1901, in Indiana on the campus of Taylor University where his father was President. Shilling later went on to receive a Bachelor of Science from Taylor University along with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1923.

After completion of his medical training at the University of Michigan, Shilling completed an internship at the Chelsea Naval Hospital.

In 1954, Shilling received an honorary Doctorate of Science from Taylor University. Other work included research and development of Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment aboard the USS S-4. In 1939, a failed request for a $78.00 audiometer resulted in receiving $3,000.00.

In 1947, Shilling left NSMRL for a position in the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Four years of this post were spent directing medical, biological, and psychological studies and ended with two years as the director of the Research Division, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery as well as the special assistant for the BioSciences. This project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to study "all phases of the communications problems as they relate to the biological sciences and scientists". Here, Shilling applied his knowledge in diving medicine and biological communications to establish the UMS scientific journal, Undersea Biomedical Research. The journal continued under the name Undersea Biomedical Research until 1993 when it was changed to Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal.

Shilling's experience with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) in the treatment of decompression sickness allowed him to connect the diving community with the growing clinical HBO community. The collection consists of books, journals, reports, workshops, symposia, conference proceedings, and annotated bibliographies spanning the fields of diving, hyperbaric, and marine medicine. There is a small journal and newsletter collection dealing with diving safety and diving medicine. The library has extensive reprint files of articles, cataloged by author, related to diving and hyperbaric medicine and dating back to the 1930s.

Many of the UHMS publications have been scanned and are available online at the Rubicon Research Repository.

Shilling's portrait, painted by Daniel Thompson of the Corcoran Gallery and School of Art, was dedicated October 23, 1994. It currently resides on the second floor of the DUMC Library.

Memberships and awards Shilling was a member of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, the American Physiological Society, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, the Aerospace Medical Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Sigma Xi. where he and his wife used to like to take friends to dinner.

Publications Charles W. Shilling, Margaret F. Werts and Nancy R. Schandelmeier (1976): The Underwater Handbook. A Guide to Physiology and Performance for the Engineer. 912 pp. John Wiley & Sons. . Underwater Medicine and Related Sciences: A Guide to the Literature: an annotated bibliography, key word index, and microthesaurus. 632 pages, Gordon & Breach Science Publishers Ltd; First edition (July 8, 1971) Volume One – Charles W Shilling and Margaret F Werts (eds). Volume Two – Margaret F Werts and Charles W Shilling (eds). Volume Three – Margaret F Werts and Charles W Shilling (eds). Volume Four – Margaret F Werts and Charles W Shilling (eds). Volume Five – Charles W Shilling, Lyn E Teven, and Margaret F Werts (eds). Volume Six – Charles W Shilling and Lyn E Teven (eds).

Death Shilling died on December 23, 1994, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his wife Miriam.