Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History
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In May 1948, the President of the
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...
Admiral
Raymond Spruance Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during one of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle ...
recommended a plan to establish a civilian professorship of
maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...
at the
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...
. Approved by
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
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 Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
was appointed to the position. In 1953,
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
Robert Bernard Anderson named the chair in honor of Fleet Admiral
Ernest J. King Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the Un ...
, 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 Henry Haring (born 9 February 1885 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - died 4 September 1960 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an important historian of Latin America and a pioneer in initiating the study of Latin American colonial institution ...
. At that point, there was only one other named academic chair in the United States for the field of
maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...
, that held by the
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 in honor of William Howard Gardiner (died, New York City, 21 June 1952), a publicist and advocate of the importance of sea power, wh ...
established at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
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. The position reverted to a visiting professorship in October 2016.


List of Professors

• 1951-1952 Thomas C. Mendenhall,
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
• 1952-1953 John H. Kemble,
Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
• 1953-1954
Clarence H. Haring Clarence Henry Haring (born 9 February 1885 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - died 4 September 1960 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an important historian of Latin America and a pioneer in initiating the study of Latin American colonial institution ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
• 1954-1955 James A. Field, Jr,
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
• 1955-1956 Hiram M. Stout,
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
• 1956-1957 Ollinger Crenshaw, W & L University • 1957-1958 Gordon B. Turner,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
• 1958-1959 Lawrence O. Ealy,
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
• 1959-1960 James A. Huston,
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
• 1960-1961 Edward A. Younger,
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
• 1961-1962 Charles A. Jellison,
University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...
• 1962-1963
Theodore Ropp Theodore Ropp (1911–2000) was an American historian who served as a professor at Duke University. Academic career Theodore Ropp's first teaching position was as an instructor in history at Harvard University in 1937–38. In 1938, Duke Univers ...
,
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
• 1963-1964 William Richard Emerson,
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
• 1964-1965 Boleslaw B. Szczesniak,
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
• 1965-1966 C. J. Smith,
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
• 1966-1967 H.L. Coles,
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
• 1976-1968 Raymond G. O’Connor,
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
• 1968-1969 Gerald E. Wheeler,
San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
• 1969-1970 Stephen E. Ambrose,
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
• 1970-1971 Thaddeus V. Tuleja, St Peter’s College • 1971-1973
Martin Blumenson Martin Blumenson (November 8, 1918 – April 15, 2005) was an American military historian who served as a historical officer with the Third and Seventh Armies in World War II and later became a prolific author. His works included a biography of ...
,
Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level. The enabling legislation consists of the Acadia ...
• 1973-1974 J. Kenneth McDonald,
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
• 1974-1980 Philip A. Crowl • 1980-1984 Vacant • 1984–2016
John Hattendorf John Brewster Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., FRHistS, FSNR, (born December 22, 1941) is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty books, mainly on British and American maritime hi ...
• 2016- Present
John Hattendorf John Brewster Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., FRHistS, FSNR, (born December 22, 1941) is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty books, mainly on British and American maritime hi ...
in Emeritus status • 2017- 2020
Craig Symonds Craig Lee Symonds (born 31 December 1946, in Long Beach, California) is the Distinguished Visiting Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History for the academic years 2017–2020 at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He is also ...
• 2020 - 2021 John T. Kuehn


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. * Newport, Rhode Island, Naval War College, Archives, Record Group 3, Box 141, Folder 2, "FADM Ernest J. King Professor." {{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Maritime History, King, Ernest J. * + + Maritime History, King, Ernest J. 1948 establishments in Rhode Island