Gene Hobbs

Eugene Weston Hobbs II, known as Gene Hobbs (born November 28, 1973) is an American technical diver and founding board member of the non-profit Rubicon Foundation. Hobbs has served as medical officer for the Woodville Karst Plain Project since 2004 and was named the 2010 Divers Alert Network/ Rolex Diver of the year. Hobbs was a hyperbaric technologist and simulation coordinator at Duke Medical Center before taking a position as the Director of Simulation for the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Pediatrics. As of 2018, Hobbs is the business manager for the UNC Health Care Department of Neurosurgery.

Hobbs was born on November 28, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he attended Terry Sanford High School and graduated in 1992. He then attended the North Carolina State University (NCSU) where he majored in business management with a human resources concentration. While in college, Hobbs began volunteering at the F.G. Hall Hyperbaric Laboratory at Duke University Medical Center. Hobbs became a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist in 1997. He was awarded credentials as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator in 2015.

Hobbs earned an MBA with a concentration in healthcare from Fayetteville State University in 2020. Hobbs went on to complete a graduate certificate in cybersecurity management from Fayetteville State University in 2023.

In 2025, Hobbs earned a doctoral degree in Educational leadership from the East Carolina University College of Education. His dissertation focused on empathy training by applying simulation methods in an undergraduate business student population.

Hobbs was certified in scuba diving by H. Larry Brown at NCSU in 1993. Following this first class, he began assisting the diving classes while continuing his diving education. Hobbs was certified as a cave diver and NAUI instructor in 1997.

At the Duke F.G. Hall Lab in 1997, Hobbs worked on a project to evaluate emergency oxygen rebreathers for use in the delivery of first aid oxygen to diving accident victims. This work culminated in the testing of Hobbs' prototype and subsequent marketing of the Remote Emergency Oxygen Delivery System (REMO2) by the Divers Alert Network (DAN) from January 1999 – August 2001. This product was introduced at the Med-Trade convention and named the 1999 "Med-Trade new product of the year" however problems with manufacturing capability ended the project.

Hobbs participated in other projects related to aging divers, breath-hold diving, and extra-vehicular activity. Hobbs serves as a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society diving committee that shapes guidance related to diving medical safety.

Education in hyperbaric medicine related topics via inter-institutional simulations has allowed Hobbs to tie his passion for diving with his career in medical training.