Wilson served as the director of Fermilab until 1978, when he resigned in protest against what he considered was inadequate funding by the Federal government. He then joined the faculty of the University of Chicago as Ritzma Professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute. He became Emeritus Professor of Physics at Chicago in 1980. He moved to Columbia University, where he became I. I. Rabi Visiting Professor of Science and Human Relations in 1979, Michael I. Pupin Professor of Physics in 1980, and Emeritus Professor in 1982. He retired in 1983 and moved back to Ithaca, NY.