New York in the Civil War, Presented by Alfred Z. Solomon Keynote Speaker Professor Craig Symonds.

A native of Anaheim, Calif., Symonds in the 1970s was a U.S. Navy officer and the first ensign ever to lecture at the prestigious Naval War College in Newport, R.I. After his naval service, Symonds remained at the War College as a civilian professor of strategy from 1974-1975. 

He came to the Naval Academy in 1976 and during his 36-year career became a popular professor whose Civil War classes were always over-subscribed. He was named Teacher of the Year in 1988 and Researcher of the Year in 1998. He chaired the history department from 1988 to 1992. In addition to the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, he was awarded the Civilian Meritorious Service Medal three times. From 1994 to 1995 he served as professor of strategy and policy at the Britannia Naval College in Dartmouth, England.

Symonds is the author of 12 books and the editor of nine others. He has also written over 100 scholarly articles in professional journals and popular magazines, as well as more than 20 book chapters in historical anthologies. Five of his books were selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and six have been selections of the History Book Club. His books have won the Barondess Lincoln Prize, the Daniel and Marilyn Laney Prize, the S.A. Cunningham Award, the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize, and the John Lyman book Prize three times. In 2009 he shared the $50,000 Lincoln Prize with James M. McPherson. He also won the "Annie" Award in Literary Arts given by Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Now retired, Symonds is much in demand around the country as a speaker on Civil War subjects. He has spoken at Civil War Round Tables in 27 states and two foreign countries, given tours of battlefields and other historical sites and helped conduct leadership workshops based on the life of Abraham Lincoln.