Naval War College historian awarded prestigious Oxford degree

OXFORD, England – John B. Hattendorf, a maritime historian at U.S. Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, was awarded a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) degree by the University of Oxford, England during a ceremony held at the school, March 5. 

Hattendorf, who has produced scholarly work for nearly 50 years, has served as the college’s Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History since 1984 and also as chair of the Maritime History Department and director of the NWC Museum since 2003. 

“It’s a rather rare degree,” said Hattendorf. “Oxford sent me statistics on it, and they only give from one to five of these each year. And only about one a year goes to a historian.” 

Oxford awarded one of its highest degrees to Hattendorf for academic contributions over his career, after his body of work was examined by some of the top people in the field. 

“In order to get it, they did a formal examination of my work and decided that it met the standard of scholarship for the degree over a career,” added Hattendorf, who also earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford in 1979. 

Being awarded D.Litt. from Oxford is well deserved for Hattendorf, according to NWC Provost Lewis Duncan. 

“It is a singular honor for John that Oxford awards only about one each year in history. It points out the high regard in which John’s work is held,” said Duncan. 

The D.Litt. degree is a higher academic attainment than a Doctor of Philosophy degree, according to the school. 

Hattendorf received his recent degree during a ceremony that dates from the 13th century and is conducted in Latin. 

At the beginning of the ceremony, Hattendorf wore his academic robe signifying that he held the D.Phil. After officials conferred on him his new degree, Hattendorf exited, donned his new apparel, and returned. 

NWC President Rear Adm. P. Gardner Howe III has been familiar with Hattendorf’s work long before he took his current post and started working with him. 

“My introduction to the Naval War College was through a book John co-authored,” said Howe. “The book was ‘Sailors and Scholars: The Centennial History of the U. S. Naval War College.’ It covered the first 100 years of the college’s history, so I had heard John Hattendorf’s name before I got here. When I finally got a chance to meet him, I realized immediately that he is an absolute national treasure.”

Hattendorf’s extensive academic work includes being author, editor, co-author or co-editor of more than 40 books and numerous articles in the field of maritime history, including being editor-in-chief of the multi-volume “Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History,” which was awarded the Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association in 2008. 

His most recent work is a three-volume series on “U.S. Naval Strategy: Selected Documents from the 1970s through the 1990s.” 

A forthcoming book, “Strategy and the Sea: Essays in Honour of John B. Hattendorf,” was written by several authors as a tribute to Hattendorf. 

Hattendorf is the second NWC faculty member to hold a D.Litt. degree, joining Michael Schmitt who earned his from Durham University, England and serves as director of the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law here at the college. 

Hattendorf said he and Schmitt have discussed how rare it is to have two holders of the D.Litt. degree on the same faculty. 

In addition to his two doctorate degrees from Oxford, Hattendorf also holds degrees in history from Kenyon College and Brown University. 

He was also a U.S. naval officer during the Vietnam War era (1965-1973). 

Hattendorf has served as a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore, a visiting scholar at the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office, and visiting fellow at Pembroke College. 

He has been recognized with the award of an honorary doctorate of humane letters, the Caird Medal of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, and the K. Jack Bauer Award from the North American Society for Oceanic History. 

In 2009, the Navy League of the United States awarded Hattendorf its Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement, and the USS Constitution Museum Foundation awarded him its Samuel Eliot Morison Award. In 2012, he was awarded the Admiral of the Navy George Dewey Award by the Naval Order of the United States where he also serves as historian general.