Merton Professors

There are two Merton Professorships of English in the University of Oxford: 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 (1853-1916)^[1]
• 1916 – 1920: vacant
• 1920 – 1945: H. C. K. Wyld (1870-1945)^[2]
• 1945 – 1959: J. R. R. Tolkien^[3]
• 1959 – 1980: Norman Davis^[4]
• 1980 – 1984: vacant
• 1984 – 2014: Suzanne Romaine

Merton Professor of English Literature

• 1904 – 1922: Walter A. Raleigh (1861-1922)
• 1922 – 1928: George Stuart Gordon (1881-1942)
• 1929 – 1946: David Nichol Smith (1875-1962)
• 1947 – 1957: F.P. Wilson (1889-1963)
• 1957 – 1966: Nevill Coghill (1899-1980)
• 1966 – 1975: Helen Gardner (1908-1986)
• 1975 – 2002: John Carey
• 2002 - 2014: David Norbrook
• 2016 onwards: Lorna Hutson^[5][6]

References

1. MacMahon, M K C. "Napier, Arthur Sampson (1853–1916)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
2. Orton, Harold. "Wyld, Henry Cecil Kennedy (1870–1945)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
3. Drout, Michael D C, ed. (27 November 2006). J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. Routledge. p. 466. ISBN 0415969425.
4. Carpenter, Humphrey (28 June 2000). J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 240. ISBN 9780618057023.
5. "Appointments: Humanities". Oxford University Gazette. The University Of Oxford. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
6. "Appointments". Times Higher Education. TES Global. Retrieved 27 August 2015.

Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• The Times.