Dr. Dean Conrad Allard, Jr. (October 19, 1933 – September 27, 2018) was a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and archivist. He served as the Director of Naval History and the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Naval Historical Center The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard ...

from 1989 to 1995.

Early life and education

The son of Dean Conrad Allard, Sr., and his wife Elizabeth Donaldson Graves, Allard attended the Pembroke Country-Day School in Kansas City and then went on to

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where he earned his A.B. degree in 1955 and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. He married Constance Lynne Morgan on June 17, 1955, with whom he had four children. After serving in the

from 1955 to 1958, he returned to graduate school in history at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where he earned his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in 1959 with a thesis on "The Influence of the United States Navy upon the American Steel Industry, 1880-1900." He completed his Ph.D. at the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 1967 under Professor

Wood Gray Wood Gray (March 19, 1905 - June 27, 1977) was a history professor at George Washington University, public speaker, and writer. He specialized in American social history and the history of the American Civil War. He was a consultant for the United ...

with a dissertation on "

Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He ...

and the U.S. Fish Commission: a Study in the History of American Science."

Career

Upon leaving active service in the Navy, Allard was appointed head of the U.S. Navy's Operational Archives in 1958 and served in that position until 1982, when he became senior historian. In 1989, he was appointed Director of Naval History and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1995. Allard served as an adjunct professor of history at

from 1979 to 1989. In addition, he served as President of the Arlington Historical Society from 1974 to 1975; member of the council of Woodlawn Plantation in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

, from 1976 to 1984; chairman of the Historical Commission of

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, from 1978 to 1980; and member of the French-U.S. Scientific Committee on the

CSS Alabama CSS ''Alabama'' was a screw sloop-of-war built in 1862 for the Confederate States Navy. The vessel was built in Birkenhead on the River Mersey opposite Liverpool, England, by John Laird Sons and Company. Launched as ''Enrica'', she was fitte ...

from 1991 to 1995. He served as vice president of the International Commission for Military History from 2000 to 2005; a member of the executive council of the International Commission for Maritime History from 1990 to 2002; president of the U.S. Commission for Military History from 1995 to 1999; vice president of the

Society for Military History The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes naval history, air power history, and studies of technol ...

from 1983 to 1986; and President of the

North American Society for Oceanic History The North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) is the national organization in the United States of America for professional historians, underwater archeologists, archivists, librarians, museum specialists and others working in the broad f ...

from 1985 to 1989. He was a member of the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

''Marquis Who's Who''

Awards and honors

* 1992 K. Jack Bauer Award of the

* 1995 Samuel Eliot Morison Award of the

USS Constitution Museum The USS Constitution Museum is located in the Charlestown Navy Yard, which is part of the Boston National Historical Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The museum is situated near the ship at the end of Boston's Freedom Trail. The ...

* 1995

Navy Superior Civilian Service Award The Navy Superior Civilian Service Award is the highest honorary award the Chief of Naval Operations or the Commandant of the Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps may refer to: * Commandant of the Marine Corps (Indonesia) * Commandant of ...

* 2015 Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award of the

Naval Historical Foundation The Naval Historical Foundation was a nonprofit organization founded in 1926 and disbanded in 2022. It had a broad mission to preserve and promote the naval history of the United States by supporting official maritime history programs and institut ...

"2015 Dudley W. Knox Medal Recipients", ''Pull Together,'' vol. 54, no. 3 (Summer 2015), p. A-5

Publications

* ''U.S. Naval History Sources in the Washington Area and Suggested Research Subjects'', compiled by Dean C. Allard and Betty Bern. Washington; U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 1970. * ''The United States Navy and the Vietnam Conflict: The Setting of the Stage to 1959 '', vol. 1. by Edwin B. Hooper, Dean C. Allard, and Oscar P. Fitzgerald. Washington; U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976. * ''

and the U.S. Fish Commission''. New York: Arno Press, 1978. * ''U.S. Naval History Sources in the United States'', compiled and edited by Dean C. Allard, Martha L. Crawley, and Mary W. Edmison. Washington; U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 1979.

Sources

* ''

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'': "Dean C. Allard" {{DEFAULTSORT:Allard, Dean C. 1933 births 2018 deaths Writers from Kansas City, Missouri Dartmouth College alumni Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni George Washington University alumni American naval historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of the United States Pembroke Hill School alumni