Educated at the universities of Nottingham (UK) and (as a Fulbright Scholar) Virginia (USA), Probyn taught at the the University of Lancaster (UK) until 1982, and for two years was Foundation Professor of English, Head of Modern European Languages, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies at the University of Sokoto, Nigeria. Probyn has been Professor of English at Monash University since 1982 and President of the Johnson Society of Australia. He is the author of numerous books, editions and articles on Jonathan Swift, Henry and Sarah Fielding, the English novel and a biography of James Harris (1709-1780). Probyn led the Monash Henry Handel Richardson Project team.
