At which university did J.R.R. Tolkien become a professor of English language in 1924?

J.R.R. Tolkien became a professor of English language at the University of Leeds in 1924.

Tolkien joined Leeds after working on the staff of the university and teaching English. His academic interests included historical linguistics, Old and Middle English, and the development of languages. At Leeds he worked with E.V. Gordon on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a major scholarly edition published in 1925.

The Leeds period was important both professionally and creatively. Tolkien continued developing invented languages and literary ideas while teaching and researching. In 1925 he left Leeds to become Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford, where he remained for most of his academic career.

Because Tolkien is so closely linked with Oxford, readers sometimes place every major academic appointment there. His professorship in English language at Leeds came earlier and was a separate post. The University of Leeds also preserves a strong connection with Tolkien through its records, scholarship, and memories of his teaching years.