In 1969, he became professor of English at Washington University, the first Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature. In addition to 13 volumes of poetry, his works include novels, stories and a notable body of criticism. He was inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1977. The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov won The National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1978. He served as poet laureate of the United States from 1988-1990.