William Sheldon Dudley (born 14 July 1936 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, USA) is a

naval historian Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, who served as Director of Naval History and Director,

Naval Historical Center The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard. ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1995 to 2004.

Early life and education

The son of William Henry Dudley and his wife Dorothy Lawson Dudley, he attended

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1958. After graduation, he joined the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

serving from 1959 to 1963 in the grades of ensign to lieutenant. On leaving active service, Dudley became a history teacher at

Poly Prep Country Day School Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper ...

, while also earning his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in history at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, between 1963 and 1966. Completing his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1966 with a thesis on "Pedro de Angelis, 1784-1859: journalist, historian and propagandist", he went on to work on his doctorate, which he completed in 1972 with a dissertation on "Reform and radicalism in the Brazilian Army, 1870-1889". On 21 August 1965, he married Julia Bartel, with whom he had two daughters. After her death, he married Donna Tully on 20 February 2001.

Academic and government career

In 1970,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

appointed him assistant professor of history. He remained there until 1977, when the

appointed him a supervisory historian. Dudley began work on the series "Naval Documents of the American Revolution," beginning with volume 8, under its editor Dr. William J. Morgan. In 1982, Dudley succeeded Morgan as Head, Early History Branch from 1982–1990, during which period he initiated a similar series for the War of 1812, and then succeeded Morgan again as Senior Historian, 1990-1995. In 1995, the Navy Department selected Dudley for a

Senior Executive Service The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service ...

appointment to succeed Dr. Dean C. Allard as Director of Naval History. Dudley held this post until his retirement in December 2004. Dudley served as president of the American Revolution Roundtable in 1987, president of the

Society for History in the Federal Government The Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) is a private non-profit organization established in 1979 to promote an understanding of the history of the federal government in the United States and to represent historians A historian i ...

in 1989-1990, and president of the

North American Society for Oceanic History The North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) is the national organization in the United States of America for professional historians, underwater archeologists, archivists, librarians, museum specialists and others working in the broad fi ...

, 1999-2003. He has been elected a corresponding member of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

, a director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and a member of the Maryland Advisory Committee on Archaeology.

Honors and awards

*1993 Samuel Eliot Morison Award,

USS Constitution Museum The USS Constitution Museum is located in the Charlestown Navy Yard, which is part of the Boston National Historical Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The museum is situated near the ship at the end of Boston's Freedom Trail. The ...

*1997 President's Award,

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

*2004

Navy Superior Civilian Service Award The Navy Superior Civilian Service Award is the highest honorary award the Chief of Naval Operations or the Commandant of the Marine Corps may bestow on a civilian employee in the Department of the Navy and the highest award granted at the majo ...

*2005 Special Recognition Award, Surface Navy Association *2005 K. Jack Bauer Award,

*2014

Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award The Naval Historical Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1926, has a broad mission to preserve and promote the naval history of the United States by supporting official Sea Services programs and institutions, meeting the needs of the pu ...

Naval Historical Foundation The Naval Historical Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1926, has a broad mission to preserve and promote the naval history of the United States by supporting official Sea Services programs and institutions, meeting the needs of the pu ...

David F. Winkler, "Naval Historians to Receive Knox Award," ''Pull Together'' (Volume 53 No. 3 - Summer 2014) / ''Daybook'' (Volume 17 Issue 3), p. 12.

Published works

* ''Going south: U.S. Navy officer resignations & dismissals on the eve of the Civil War'' by William S. Dudley. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Foundation, 1981. * ''The Naval War of 1812: a documentary history'', William S. Dudley, editor, Michael J. Crawford, associate editor; with a foreword by John D. H. Kane, Jr. Washington: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of Navy: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., G.P.O., Volume 1, ''1812'', 1985; volume 2, ''1813'', 1992; volume 3, ''1814-1815'', 2002. * ''Ned Myers; or a life before the mast'', edited by

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

(1843); with an introduction and notes by William S. Dudley. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989. * ''The early republic and the sea: essays on the naval and maritime history of the early United States'', edited by William S. Dudley and Michael J. Crawford. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 2001. * ''Maritime Maryland: A History''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. * "'The Naval War of 1812:Seas Lakes and Bays, America's Second War of Independence with Scott Harmon, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD 2013*

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, William S. Living people People from Brooklyn 1936 births Historians of the United States American naval historians American male non-fiction writers United States Navy officers Williams College alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Southern Methodist University faculty Historians from New York (state)