J.R.R. Tolkien became a professor at Merton College, Oxford, in 1945. He was appointed Merton Professor of English Language and Literature after holding Oxford’s Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon.
Tolkien remained associated with Merton until his retirement in 1959. His work there continued his academic focus on language, medieval literature, and the history of English, alongside the writing and revision of his fiction.
This appointment is distinct from Tolkien’s student years at Exeter College and from his earlier teaching post at the University of Leeds. Confusing those institutions can produce an otherwise plausible but incorrect answer to questions about his Oxford career.