In 1953 Empson was professor of rhetoric at Gresham College, London, for a year. He then became head of the English Department at the University of Sheffield until his retirement in 1972. In 1974 Empson accepted an offer of distinguished professorship at York University in Toronto. He was knighted in 1979, the same year his old college, Magdalene, awarded him an honorary fellowship some 50 years after his expulsion.
