There are two Merton Professorships of English in the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
: the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, and the Merton Professor of English Literature. The second was created in 1914 when Sir Walter Raleigh's chair was renamed. At the present day both professorships are associated with
Merton College, but Dame Helen Gardner held her post in association with
Lady Margaret Hall. The occupants of the chairs have been:
Merton Professor of English Language and Literature
*1885–1916:
Arthur S. Napier
*1916–1920: ''vacant''
*1920–1945:
H. C. K. Wyld
*1945–1959:
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
*1959–1980:
Norman Davis
*1980–1984: ''vacant''
*1984–2014:
Suzanne Romaine
*2018 onwards:
Helen Small
Merton Professor of English Literature
*1904–1922:
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebell ...
*1922–1928:
George Stuart Gordon
*1929–1946:
David Nichol Smith
*1947–1957:
F. P. Wilson
*1957–1966:
Nevill Coghill
*1966–1975:
Helen Gardner
*1975–2002:
John Carey
*2002–2014:
David Norbrook
*2016–present:
Lorna Hutson
References
{{Reflist
Sources
*''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.
*''The Times''.
Professorships at the University of Oxford
Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford
Merton College, Oxford