J.R.R. Tolkien spent most of his academic career in Oxford.
He studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and later returned to the university as a scholar and teacher. His Oxford career included posts at the University of Oxford’s colleges and faculties, where he taught subjects connected with English language and medieval literature. He was also a fellow of Pembroke College and later of Merton College.
Oxford provided the setting for much of Tolkien’s professional life and for his friendships with other writers and scholars. His work there involved philology, Old English, Middle English, and the history of languages. The city also became associated with the informal literary group known as the Inklings, which included C.S. Lewis.
Tolkien held academic positions elsewhere, including at the University of Leeds, so Oxford was not the only university in his career. Nevertheless, it was the central institutional setting for his scholarship and the place most strongly linked with his mature writing life.