The Naval Historical Foundation has announced that Dr. Norman Friedman and Dr. Donald F. Bittner are the 2022 Commodore Dudley W. Knox Medal recipients for lifetime achievement in the profession of naval history.
The award is named for Commodore Dudley Wright Knox (1877–1960), esteemed historian, librarian, and archivist of the Navy. Established in 2013, the medal is presented to individuals who have dedicated a lifetime of work to further our understanding of naval history.
Dr. Friedman—a longtime contributor to both Naval History and the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, as well as the acclaimed author of ship books published by the Naval Institute Press that are considered the gold standard in the field—is a strategist and historian interested in the intersection of defense technology and national policy.
He received his PhD in physics from Columbia University in 1974. He served for a decade with the Office of the Secretary of the Navy and served for two years as futurologist to the Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
Dr. Bittner, professor emeritus of military history at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, received his PhD in history from the University of Missouri in 1974.
He served in the Marine Corps as a regular officer and reserve officer, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Between 2012 and 2021, he was secretary-general of the United States Commission on Military History.
In June 2000, the Marine Corps University Foundation awarded him its most prestigious honor, the General Leonard F. Chapman medallion, for service at the Command and Staff College.
His many publications include The Lion and the White Falcon: Britain and Iceland in the World War II Era (Archon, 1983), and Officers of Royal Marines in the Age of Sail (Royal Marines Historical Society, 2002).