In 1984, Academia Sinica's Institute of the Three Principles of the People named Tsao a research fellow. When Tsao retired from NTU Library in 1985 after working there for 39 years, he was immediately hired onto the faculty of the university's history department, where he continues to work to this day.
1984 年，中研院三民主義研究所聘曹永和為兼任研究員，隔年他自任職 39 年的台大圖書館退休後，又被台大歷史學系聘為兼任教授至今。