Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History
Encyclopedia
In May 1948, the President of the Naval War College
Admiral Raymond Spruance recommended a plan to establish a civilian professorship of maritime history
at the Naval War College
. Approved by Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan (Navy)
on 29 December 1948, the post was not filled “for lack of funds” until 1951, when Thomas C. Mendenhall of Yale University
was appointed to the position. In 1953, Secretary of the Navy Robert Bernard Anderson
named the chair in honor of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, recognizing King’s great personal interest in maritime history. The Ernest J. King chair was named and first filled during the tenure of Professor Clarence H. Haring
. At that point, there was only one other named academic chair in the United States for the field of maritime history
, that held by the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs
established at Harvard University
in 1948.
The Naval War College’s first permanent long-term civilian faculty member came in 1966 and its larger civilian faculty began in 1972. Between 1951 and 1973, the King Chair was regularly held as a one-year visiting appointment. It became a permanent faculty appointment in 1974.
, Yale University
• 1952-1953 John H. Kemble
, Pomona College
• 1953-1954 Clarence H. Haring
, Harvard University
• 1954-1955 James A. Field, Jr, Swarthmore College
• 1955-1956 Hiram M. Stout, CIA
• 1956-1957 Ollinger Crenshaw, W & L University
• 1957-1958 Gordon B. Turner, Princeton University
• 1958-1959 Lawrence O. Ealy, Temple University
• 1959-1960 James A. Huston, Purdue University
• 1960-1961 Edward A. Younger, University of Virginia
• 1961-1962 Charles A. Jellison, University of New Hampshire
• 1962-1963 Theodore Ropp
, Duke University
• 1963-1964 William R. Emerson, Yale University
• 1964-1965 Boleslaw B. Szczesniak, University of Notre Dame
• 1965-1966 C. J. Smith, University of Georgia
• 1966-1967 H.L. Coles, Ohio State University
• 1976-1968 Raymond G. O’Connor, Temple University
• 1968-1969 Gerald E. Wheeler, San Jose State College
• 1969-1970 Stephen E. Ambrose, Johns Hopkins University
• 1970-1971 Thaddeus V. Tuleja, St Peter’s College
• 1971-1973 Martin Blumenson
, Acadia University
• 1973-1974 J. Kenneth McDonald, George Washington University
• 1974-1980 Philip A. Crowl
• 1980-1984 Vacant
• 1984-present John Hattendorf
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
Admiral Raymond Spruance recommended a plan to establish a civilian professorship of maritime history
Maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...
at the Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
. Approved by Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan (Navy)
John L. Sullivan (Navy)
John Lawrence Sullivan was Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1946-47 and the first Department of Defense Secretary of the Navy in the Truman Administration 1947-49. He was appointed to that position upon Secretary Forrestal's installation as the first Secretary of Defense. He resigned in protest...
on 29 December 1948, the post was not filled “for lack of funds” until 1951, when Thomas C. Mendenhall of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
was appointed to the position. In 1953, Secretary of the Navy Robert Bernard Anderson
Robert Bernard Anderson
Robert Bernard Anderson was an American administrator and businessman. He served as the Secretary of the Navy between February 1953 and March 1954. He also served as the Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 until 1961....
named the chair in honor of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, recognizing King’s great personal interest in maritime history. The Ernest J. King chair was named and first filled during the tenure of Professor Clarence H. Haring
Clarence H. Haring
Clarence Henry Haring was an important historian of Latin America and the pioneer who initiated the study of South American colonial institutions among scholars in the United States.-Early life and education:The son of a businessman, Henry Getman Haring, and Amelia Stoneback, Clarence...
. At that point, there was only one other named academic chair in the United States for the field of maritime history
Maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...
, that held by the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs
Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs
The Gardiner Chair of Oceanic History and Affairs was established at Harvard University in 1948.The chair is named is named in honor of William Howard Gardiner , a publicist and advocate of the importance of sea power, who had been President of the United States Navy League from 1928 to 1933...
established at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1948.
The Naval War College’s first permanent long-term civilian faculty member came in 1966 and its larger civilian faculty began in 1972. Between 1951 and 1973, the King Chair was regularly held as a one-year visiting appointment. It became a permanent faculty appointment in 1974.
List of Professors
• 1951-1952 Thomas C. MendenhallThomas C. Mendenhall (historian)
Thomas Corwin Mendenhall II was a professor of history at Yale University, the sixth President of Smith College, and the leading authority on the history of collegiate rowing in the United States.-Early life and education:The grandson and namesake of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall ,...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
• 1952-1953 John H. Kemble
John H. Kemble
John Haskell Kemble was a professor of History at Pomona College and an influential American maritime historian.-Early life and education:...
, Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
• 1953-1954 Clarence H. Haring
Clarence H. Haring
Clarence Henry Haring was an important historian of Latin America and the pioneer who initiated the study of South American colonial institutions among scholars in the United States.-Early life and education:The son of a businessman, Henry Getman Haring, and Amelia Stoneback, Clarence...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
• 1954-1955 James A. Field, Jr, Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
• 1955-1956 Hiram M. Stout, CIA
• 1956-1957 Ollinger Crenshaw, W & L University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
• 1957-1958 Gordon B. Turner, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
• 1958-1959 Lawrence O. Ealy, Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
• 1959-1960 James A. Huston, Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
• 1960-1961 Edward A. Younger, University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
• 1961-1962 Charles A. Jellison, University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
• 1962-1963 Theodore Ropp
Theodore Ropp
Theodore Ropp was a professor at Duke University and recognized as the leading military historian in the United States.-Early life and education:...
, Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
• 1963-1964 William R. Emerson, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
• 1964-1965 Boleslaw B. Szczesniak, University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
• 1965-1966 C. J. Smith, University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
• 1966-1967 H.L. Coles, Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
• 1976-1968 Raymond G. O’Connor, Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
• 1968-1969 Gerald E. Wheeler, San Jose State College
• 1969-1970 Stephen E. Ambrose, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
• 1970-1971 Thaddeus V. Tuleja, St Peter’s College
• 1971-1973 Martin Blumenson
Martin Blumenson
Martin Blumenson was an American military historian who served as a historical officer with the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies in World War II and later became a prolific author whose works included an authoritative biography of General George S...
, Acadia University
Acadia University
Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...
• 1973-1974 J. Kenneth McDonald, George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
• 1974-1980 Philip A. Crowl
• 1980-1984 Vacant
• 1984-present John Hattendorf
John Hattendorf
John Brewster Hattendorf is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than forty books on British and American maritime history and naval warfare. In 2005, the U.S...
Sources
- John B. Hattendorf, B. Mitchell Simpson III, and John R. Wadleigh, Sailors and Scholars: The Centennial History of the U.S. Naval War College. (Newport; Naval War College Press, 1984), p. 205.
- Naval War College Library