Abstract

This study of emeritus professors at an English university aims to stimulate debate
about their professional and leisure activities in retirement, how much use they
make of their university’s facilities and how much use their universities make of
them. It reveals that about half remain very happily active in teaching and research,
though not always remunerated for it or recognised by their universities for their
contributions. Unlike their North American counterparts, hardly any have
celebratory rites of passage to emeritus status, or emeritus associations or centres
that they can join. There was some disquiet amongst emeriti about their status and
no university policy about using emeriti’s contributions, but generally England’s
emeriti are healthily active, enjoying a wide range of activities and some contacts
with their previous careers.