What was the name of the university where J.R.R. Tolkien taught from 1925 to 1959?

J.R.R. Tolkien taught at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1959.

Tolkien joined Oxford’s academic community as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in 1925. In 1945 he became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, remaining at Oxford until his retirement in 1959.

His Oxford career combined teaching, philological research, and creative work. He was associated with several colleges, including Pembroke College and Merton College. He wrote or developed important parts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings during his academic years.

Tolkien’s friendship with fellow Oxford writer C.S. Lewis is another reason the university is strongly connected with his biography. The Inklings, an informal literary discussion group that included Tolkien and Lewis, met mainly in Oxford. Tolkien did not teach at Cambridge, although Cambridge was also an important center of English scholarship.