Merton Professors

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

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{{cite ODNB|last1=MacMahon|first1=M K C|title=Napier, Arthur Sampson (1853–1916)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/94131|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/94131 |accessdate=7 January 2015}}
• 1916–1920: vacant{{cite book|title=Oxford University Calendar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGY4AAAAMAAJ&q=%22merton+professor+of+English+language+and+literature%22|accessdate=29 July 2016|year=1920|publisher=J.H. Parker, and H. Slatter|page=65}}
• 1920–1945: H. C. K. Wyld{{cite ODNB|last1=Orton|first1=Harold|title=Wyld, Henry Cecil Kennedy (1870–1945)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37047|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37047 |accessdate=7 January 2015}}
• 1945–1959: J. R. R. Tolkien{{cite book|editor1-last=Drout|editor1-first=Michael D C|title=J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|date=27 November 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415969425|page=466}}
• 1959–1980: Norman Davis{{cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=Humphrey|title=J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/lettersjrrtolkie00tolk|url-access=limited|date=28 June 2000|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=9780618057023|page=[https://archive.org/details/lettersjrrtolkie00tolk/page/n338 240]}}
• 1980–1984: vacant
• 1984–2014: Suzanne Romaine
• 2018 onwards: Helen Small

Merton Professor of English Literature

• 1904–1922: Walter Raleigh{{cite book|last1=Erskine-Hill|first1=Howard|last2=Lindsay|first2=Alexander|title=William Congreve: The Critical Heritage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQtl1rmAfTAC&pg=PA425|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=2 October 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-78263-5|page=425}}
• 1922–1928: George Stuart Gordon{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=C. S.|authorlink=C. S. Lewis|title=All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis, 1922-1927|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_ctGNb75zAC|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=13 November 1992|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=0-547-74690-3|page=464}}
• 1929–1946: David Nichol Smith{{cite book|last=Trevor-Roper|first=Hugh|authorlink=Hugh Trevor-Roper|title=The Wartime Journals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2j0CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=30 May 2015|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-78453-193-5|page=168}}
• 1947–1957: F. P. Wilson{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=C. S.|authorlink=C. S. Lewis|title=All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis, 1922–1927|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_ctGNb75zAC|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=13 November 1992|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=0-547-74690-3|page=473}}
• 1957–1966: Nevill Coghill{{cite book|last=Bloom|first=Harold|authorlink=Harold Bloom|title=Geoffrey Chaucer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7g3AisL-nOIC&pg=PA48|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1568-9|page=48}}
• 1966–1975: Helen Gardner{{cite book|last=Louis|first=Wm. Roger|authorlink=Wm. Roger Louis|title=History of Oxford University Press: Volume III: 1896 to 1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbcJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA801|accessdate=29 July 2016|date=November 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-956840-6|page=801}}
• 1975–2002: John Carey{{Cite web |url=http://themanbookerprize.com/author/professor-john-carey |title=Professor John Carey | the Man Booker Prizes |access-date=2016-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813024357/http://themanbookerprize.com/author/professor-john-carey |archive-date=2016-08-13 |url-status=dead }}
• 2002–2014: David Norbrook
• 2016–present: Lorna Hutson{{cite web|title=Appointments: Humanities|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2014-2015/4december2014-no5080/notices/#191052|website=Oxford University Gazette|publisher=The University Of Oxford|accessdate=4 December 2014}}{{cite web|title=Appointments|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/minecraft-striking-gold-in-the-classroom|website=Times Higher Education|date=27 August 2015 |publisher=TES Global|accessdate=27 August 2015}}