Pritzker Military Museum & Library Bestows Its Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing to Author Dr. Craig L. Symonds
CHICAGO, IL (March 2, 2023), The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (PMML) will host its annual On War Military History Symposium from April 13-14, 2023, and present Dr. Craig L. Symonds with the 2023 PMML Literature Award. The Symposium will examine the history, health, and future of the All-Volunteer Force under the theme of “The All-Volunteer Force Turns Fifty: Past Successes, Future Challenges.”
The Symposium will kick off on Thursday, April 13, at 3:30 p.m. with a discussion of the theme, “Those Who Serve in Today’s All-Volunteer Force.” Panelists will touch on the social, cultural, and economic implications, past and present, associated with the draft and all-volunteer force (AVF). Panelists for this session include Colonel (USA) Jaron Wharton, Ph.D., Military Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Kenneth O. Preston, 13th Sergeant Major of the Army; Adrian R. Lewis, Ph.D., David B. Pittaway Professor of Military History, University of Kansas; and Major General (USA Ret.) Dennis Laich, author of “Skin in the Game: Poor Kids and Patriots.”
Following the panel discussion, Dr. Craig L. Symonds will be presented with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s 2023 Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement Military Writing. The Literature Award serves to recognize a living author who has made a significant contribution to the understanding of military history, including military affairs. In the past, the recipient of this award was honored at the the Museum & Library’s annual Liberty Gala. Dr. Symonds is Professor Emeritus of History at the United States Naval Academy, where he taught for thirty years, including a four-year term as History Department Chair, and is the author of seventeen books. He is decorated with many awards including the Academy’s Teacher of the Year Award, Navy Meritorious Service Award, and Researcher of the Year Award.
“We are proud to award the Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s Literature Award to Dr. Symond,“said Pritzker Military Museum & Library Founder, Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired). “While he is already decorated with many awards including the Academy’s Teacher of the Year Award, Navy Meritorious Service Award, and Researcher of the Year Award, Dr. Symonds’ profound collection of books deserves recognition from the PMML.”
Dr. Craig L. Symonds is Professor Emeritus of History at the United States Naval Academy, where he taught for thirty years, including a four-year term as History Department Chair. He was the first person to win both the Academy’s Teacher of the Year award (1988) and its Researcher of the Year award (1998). He received the Navy Meritorious Service Award in 1989, and the Superior Civilian Service medal in 1994, 1998, 2005, and 2020. In 1994-95, he was Professor of Strategy at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. He returned to the Naval Academy in 2012 as The Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of Naval History. From 2017 to 2020 he was The Ernest J. King Distinguished Professor of Maritime History at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, for which he received his fourth Superior Civilian Service Medal (2020).
Symonds is the author of seventeen books. They include biographies of Civil War figures Joseph E. Johnston (1992), Patrick Cleburne (1997), and Franklin Buchanan (1999), as well as books on the Second World War, including The Battle of Midway (2011), Operation Neptune (2014), and World War II at Sea (2018). His 2005 book, Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History, won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize for Naval History, and his 2008 book, Lincoln and His Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War, won the prestigious Lincoln Prize. His books have been translated into six foreign languages. In 2014 he was awarded the Dudley Knox medal for lifetime achievement. His newest book is a wartime biography of Admiral Chester Nimitz entitled Nimitz at War, released in 2022.
