King's College London

Professor Geoffrey Till of the Defence Studies Department has been named the 2018 recipient of U.S. Naval War College’s (NWC) “Hattendorf Prize” – an international award that aims to recognize original research contributions in the field of maritime history.

Geoffrey Till is an emeritus professor of maritime studies and chairman of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies at King’s College, London. He is also a visiting professor in the Maritime Security Program at the Rajaratnum School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

In a letter of congratulations, Rear Adm. Jeffrey A. Harley, NWC president, invited Till to receive the award for his original achievements in maritime scholarship at the 23rd International Seapower Symposium, which will take place here at the college in September.

“This prize honors original research in maritime history, one of the basic functions for which the Naval War College was established in 1884,” said John B. Hattendorf, NWC’s Ernest J. King professor emeritus of maritime history and the namesake for the award.

“In selecting Geoffrey Till as its 2018 Hattendorf Prize Laureate, the Naval War College honors a preeminent expert on the history and practice of maritime strategy and contemporary world naval history," added Hattendorf, who along with the three prior Hattendorf Prize recipients and three other ex-officio members comprised the academic panel that selected Till.

The award was established in 2011 in recognition of Hattendorf’s legacy of scholarship and decades of service at the college.

Its three previous recipients have been Nicholas A.M. Rodger of Oxford University, Paul M. Kennedy of Yale University, and retired Capt. Werner Rahn of the German navy.

Till is the author of numerous publications, beginning with his first book in 1979, “Air Power in the Royal Navy, 1914-45.” He is most widely known for his 1982 book, “Maritime Strategy and the Nuclear Age, and Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century,” now in its fourth edition.

Among his most recent works is “Understanding Victory: Naval Operations from Trafalgar to the Falklands,” which was published in 2014.

Typically awarded at two-year intervals, the Hattendorf Prize event includes the presentation of a bronze medal, a citation, and a monetary gift of $10,000. It also features a lecture by the recipient at NWC, which is transcribed and later published in the Naval War College Review.

The award is made possible with the support of the Naval War College Foundation. Its purpose is to honor and express appreciation for distinguished academic research, insight and writing that contribute to a deeper historical understanding of the broad context and interrelationships involved in the roles, contributions, limitations and uses of the sea services in the field of maritime history.

Nominees are selected among distinguished academics for the quality and depth of their original scholarship over a long career.