Which university employed J.R.R. Tolkien as a professor from 1945 to 1959?

J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor at the University of Oxford from 1945 to 1959.

In 1945, Tolkien became the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford’s Merton College. He held that chair until his retirement in 1959. Earlier, he had been Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1925 to 1945.

Oxford was central to Tolkien’s academic and creative life. He studied at Exeter College, taught at several Oxford colleges, and developed friendships with writers such as C.S. Lewis. The university’s medieval manuscripts, scholarly traditions, and intellectual community strongly influenced his work.

The University of Cambridge is a common alternative because Tolkien later held a professorship there, becoming the first Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in 1925 before returning to Oxford. His best-known university affiliation, however, was Oxford.