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Michael Hyland suggests that some professors appointed today would not previously have gained the hallowed title.

I was awarded my first chair in 1987 after much hard work and the application of rigorous academic standards by Liverpool University.

Soon after that, it seemed that universities started to give chairs away in the academic equivalent of cornflakes packets.

I have since shared this observation with friends who gained chairs over the past four decades, only to find that their experiences were similar to mine, irrespective of when they were "chaired".

Richard Joyner
Emeritus professor of physical chemistry
Nottingham Trent University