Prizes and Awards

The Naval Historical Foundation is proud to recognize outstanding work in the field of history. 

Below are our major prizes and awards:

• Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award
• Captain Kenneth Coskey National History Day Prize
• Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr. Naval History Award
• National History Day Teachers of Distinction Awards
• Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn NROTC Prizes

Continue reading to learn more about each of these prizes and to view the archives of previous winners. The Naval Historical Foundation is also pleased to sponsor the United States Naval Academy Superintendent’s Leadership and Vision Award: Voices of Maritime History – click HERE to learn more.

Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award

The Commodore Dudley W. Knox Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual for a lifetime body of work in the field of U.S. naval history. The award is named for Commodore Dudley Wright Knox (21 June 1877 – 11 June 1960). A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval War College, Knox had a distinguished career as a naval officer with service in the Spanish American War, Boxer Rebellion, Great White Fleet, and World War I. But it was his abilities as a historian, librarian, and archivist that earned him respect and admiration amongst his peers and later generations.

Learn more about the Knox Award or submit a nomination.

Previous Knox Achievement Award Recipients: 

• 2013 James C. Bradford, William N. Still, Jr., Philip K. Lundeberg
• 2014 John Hattendorf, Craig L. Symonds, William S. Dudley, Harold D. Langley.
• 2015 Dean C. Allard, Thomas J. Cutler, Kenneth J. Hagan
• 2016 Christopher McKee
• 2017 Jon Sumida, Paul Stillwell, Edward Marolda
• 2019 Tyrone G. Martin, Norman Polmar, David Curtis Skaggs, Jr.

STEM Teacher Fellowships

Starting in the summer of 2011, the Naval Historical Foundation began offering competitive STEM Teacher Fellowships to educators from across the country. Please visit our STEM Teacher Fellowships page to learn more.

Captain Kenneth Coskey National History Day Prize

At the annual National History Day festivities that occur every June at the University of Maryland, special prizes are awarded to high school and middle school history projects that best capture an appreciation for naval history. Two such prizes are awarded, one each in the Junior and Senior Divisions, for $1000 each. Judging is conducted by the organizers of National History Day.

 The prize is named for the late Captain Ken Coskey, a Vietnam War combat aviator and Prisoner of War, and former Executive Director of the Naval Historical Foundation.

Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr. Naval History Award

This prize is given to the U.S. Naval Academy midshipman who has demonstrated exceptional naval history scholarship during an academic year. Judging is conducted by Naval Academy history department faculty. Beginning in 2003, the Prize was named for recently deceased World War II submariner, noted author and long-time Naval Historical Foundation Board member Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr.

National History Day Teachers of Distinction Awards

2020 NHD Teachers of Distinction Award Press Release:

For the third straight year the Naval Historical Foundation (NHF) will recognize talented middle and high school teachers whose students produce award winning projects having a naval or maritime theme in the annual National History Day (NHD) competition.

 Continuing a program started in 2018, NHF will present “Teacher of Distinction” awards to teachers whose students (i) win NHF’s annual Coskey Prizes for Naval History or (ii) are ranked first, second or third in their categories in the NHD national competition.

 Each year some 3,000 students and several hundred teachers take part in the NHD national competition at the University of Maryland in College Park.  This year the competition was scheduled for June 14-20.

However, due to the coronavirus NHD Executive Director Cathy Gorn on March 24 announced that the competition would be conducted in a virtual format to ensure the safety of participants. ”It’s not ideal but canceling was never an option,” she said.  The virtual national competition will be in June.

Every year NHD has a broad theme for the student projects. This year’s theme is, “Breaking Barriers in History.” 

 There are five project categories:  papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites, and performances.  Competition begins at individual schools, with the top middle and high school winners advancing to regional, state, and national competitions.  Some 600,000 students from the United States, District of Columbia, territories, and international schools in China, Korea and South Asia participate annually.

 Last year NHF’s Teacher of Distinction awards went to 11 teachers from around the county, two from middle schools, the other nine from high schools. The awards consist of $200 honorariums, NHF certificates of achievement, one-year NHF memberships, and access to NHF Navy-related research assistance.  

 The NHF Coskey Prizes are named after the late Captain Ken Coskey, a Navy pilot, Vietnam prisoner of war, and former NHF executive director.  The NHD prizes were established in 1999.  Every year since then NHF has awarded two Coskey Prizes to the top ranked projects in naval history.  Each prize is a $1,000 award. 

 “We’ve been pleased and honored to award the Coskey Prizes for 20 years now,” said Admiral William Fallon, USN (Ret.), NHF chairman. “But we thought it appropriate to also recognize the teachers who inspire the students to produce outstanding naval and maritime projects.  Teachers are on the front lines of education and often don’t get the recognition they deserve.” 

Previous Teachers of Distinction

Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn NROTC Prizes