Internationally known poet Nikki Giovanni retired Sept. 1 as an English professor at Virginia Tech University, bringing an end to a celebrated career at the university that spanned more than 30 years and earned her accolades inside and outside the university.

Ms. Giovanni arrived at Virginia Tech in 1987 as part of the Commonwealth Visiting Professor program at the urging of Ginny Fowler, a former faculty member in the Department of English. Ms. Fowler was inspired to reach out after hearing Ms. Giovanni speak at a conference.

Ms. Giovanni’s skill in written and spoken words was displayed numerous times during her tenure, including composing poems and speaking during a memorial ceremony for the 32 Virginia Tech victims who were slain in a mass shooting on the Blacksburg campus on April 16, 2007. Her remarks have been viewed more that 100,000 times on YouTube.

The author also established a poetry competition for students at Virginia Tech, and she was named a University Distinguished Professor in 1999.

“Nikki Giovanni has been an important and deeply valued presence on our campus, giving voice to the spirit of Virginia Tech and helping us celebrate, mourn, learn, heal, and be better,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement announcing her retirement.

“Her words will continue to inspire us and touch readers around the world, and while we will miss her regular presence on campus, she will always be a beloved member of our university community.”

Alongside her work at Virginia Tech, Ms. Giovanni has been awarded 30 honorary degrees and seven NAACP Image Awards, published 11 children’s books, and was nominated for a Grammy and the National Book Award.

Before joining Virginia Tech, Ms. Giovanni, born Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, was active in the Black Arts Movement, a Black nationalism movement that focused on music, literature, drama, and the visual arts made up of Black artists and intellectuals that included Amiri Baraka (Everett LeRoi Jones), Lorraine Hansberry, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks and James Baldwin. As a cultural section of the Black Power Movement, its participants shared many of the ideologies of Black self-determination, political beliefs, and African-American culture.

Back then, and now, Ms. Giovanni was a popular speaker at various colleges and universities, particularly HBCUs.

While her professional career with Virginia Tech has ended, Ms. Giovanni continues her work in literature, with her newest children’s book, ‘A Library,’ set to debut at the Library of Congress in the fall.

“I hope that I’ve done a good job,” Ms. Giovanni said. “I hope that I’ve done at least my fair share.”