[5] Upon finishing his studies, Najita began teaching at Carleton College.
[8] In 1969, Najita joined the University of Chicago faculty,[9] and was later named a Robert S. Ingersolll Distinguished Service Professor in History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
[10] Over the course of his career, Najita received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981,[11] and was named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993.
[2] Five years after his retirement from the institution, the University of Chicago inaugurated the Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture series in 2007.
[13] Najita died at his home in Kamuela, Hawaii, on January 11, 2021, after a long illness.