Bruce Dickins, FBA (26 October 1889 – 4 January 1978), a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge, was Professor of English Language at the University of Leeds from 1931 to 1946 (where he succeeded E. V. Gordon), teaching medieval English and Old Norse.
At Cambridge, Dickins continued to support Celtic Studies, creating a University Lectureship for Nora Chadwick in 1950 and in 1955 making "an eloquent case to the General Board for the establishment of a Professorship of Celtic in his Department, so as to put Cambridge on an equal footing with Oxford in this respect"[7]: 26 (though the latter proposal was scotched in the face of "aggressive opposition" from Whitelock).
He seemed to think he would be one of a long line of disputants, but he had the floor to himself and no one bothered to counter his plea against the proposed new status for women.
The dim echoes of what had once been a white-hot argument found no support, and the discussion was closed.
[8]In 1968 he held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography at Cambridge University speaking on "The Making of the Parker Library."