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)
1916- 1920: vacant
1920 – 1945: H. C. K. Wyld (1870-1945)
1945 – 1959: J. R. R. Tolkien
1959 –1980: Norman Davis
1980 – 1984: vacant.
1984 – present: Suzanne Romaine
'Merton Professor of English Literature'
1914 – 1922: Walter A. Raleigh (1861-1922)
1922 - 1928: George Stuart Gordon (1881-1942)
1929 – 1946: David Nichol Smith (1875-1962)
1947 – 1957: F. P. (Frank Percy) Wilson (1889-1963)
1957 – 1966: Nevill Coghill (1899-1980)
1966 – 1975: Helen Gardner (1908-1986)
1975 – 2002: John Carey
2002 - present David Norbrook

Contents

Sources

Sources

''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.
''The Times''.