Award Recipients

William Thiesen

William H. Thiesen

Award Year: 2017

Rodney N. Houghton Award

The Rodney N. Houghton Award is presented for the best feature article in Sea History in the preceding year. The award is named after Rodney Houghton (1938–2007), a dedicated NMHS trustee and passionate advocate for advancing maritime history education.

Dr. William Thiesen serves as Atlantic Area Historian for the United States Coast Guard. He earned an M.A. from East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime History and a Ph.D. from University of Delaware’s Hagley Program in the History of Technology. His books include Industrializing American Shipbuilding: The Transformation of Ship Design and Construction, 1820-1920 and Cruise of the Dashing Wave: Rounding Cape Horn in 1860.

Over the past 30 years, Thiesen has published hundreds of naval and maritime history articles, reviews, essays and stories in print and online.

He is currently primary contributor and managing editor of the Coast Guard’s online series, “The Long Blue Line,” featured weekly on the Coast Guard Compass website.

Categories: Author/Publisher, Maritime Historian, US Coast Guard