In the academic year 1959-60, History of the Russian Language was taught by Dr David Johnson, a visiting lecturer from Birmingham. Dr Bernard Johnson was then appointed to a permanent post in 1960, and took over the teaching of this subject. In his book on the history of the department Professor Malcolm Jones remarks that as a student, he had “found it difficult enough mastering the grammar of modern Russian without, at the same time, having to master the complex stages through which it had evolved”.