“Dr.” is form of address. One does not properly refer to oneself using a form of address, notwithstanding that many people find it necessary to induce fawning over their various advanced degrees and professional certifications. Is it incorrect to sign a letter as “Dr. John Smith” the same as you would not sign a letter as “Mr. John Doe.”
However, **andstufflikethat **may certainly address him as “Dr.” if he is a professional superior, as he seems to be.
There are a hell of a lot more PhDs than there are professors. I always considered the latter as more exalted. I dislike being addressed as Dr. outside of my professional life. Right after I got my PhD, my mother introduced me to some random stranger as Dr. _____. I was annoyed and told her so, but she didn’t stop.
Me too on that one, sort of. When I introduce somebody to my father, very old now and famous-in-his-field, an emeritus Distinguished Professor still churning out books, with a Ph.D so long ago he hasn’t given a fuck for 70 years, I always say “Dr. Bloom,” because I’m proud of him.
He’ll immediately say, with a self-deprecating wave-off of the title, “Hi, I’m Fritz.” Although I’m fairly certain he digs the introduction still.
I’m not at a research orientated university, and these are first years through final year undergraduates; that’s what startled me. I’m used to grad students addressing professors by first names, but it’s an odd experience having a first year address me by my first name. (Been in the professoring sort of business on and off for about 20 years).
Yep, tim314 – as a lecturer I’m addressed as Doctor in formal situations/writing/official school literature.
At my school it’s
Lecturer – US assistant professor
Senior Lecturer – US associate professor
Professor – US full professor.
We have Readers, but they sort of exist outside of that scheme as you apply for that promotion in a different way than going up the route from lecturer-senior lecturer-professor. Readers can be ‘Doctor’ or ‘Professor.’ No tenure system here.
There’s a not so long ago thread, a longish one, on protocol and customs for speaking with college faculty by name.*
*One of my typical half-assed cites.
I often wondered about this. In the US, a lecturer is the lowest of the low, beneath assistant professor and often a grad student.
And–what, no tenure?! I can’t begin to tell you how different the entire academic profession, and meritocracy, such as there is, must differ.
Is that true? A reader is a reader in my field, never heard of a reader being simultaneously a professor at the same institution.
I’m a professor in the UK and in the context of work, being addressed in an email by someone you don’t know it has to be Prof Scissors. If I do know them, exchanged emails etc then it’ll likely be first name terms. What really sticks out like a sore thumb is the occasional ‘Mr Scissors’. I get that now and again from German exchange students who have their own elaborate naming rituals, and something is getting lost in translation. Herr Dr Dr etc.
I’ve also noticed that the only guy with a PhD in a big department of a company uses it a lot more than someone in a research lab.
The key is are you referring to him (Ph.D) or addressing him directly (Dr.)?
I’d go along with this when addressing a formal letter:
John Dough, Ph.D.
University Address
etc.
Saint Cad, Ed.D., NBCT (and no Ph.D. and Dr. are not “equivalent” scr4)
Other University address
etc.
Dear Dr. Dough:
blahh blah blah
Yours very truly,
Saint Cad [no postnomials since I already used them. If I didn’t have a return address in the heading I would put them here]
For an email which may be a little more informal you are addressing him so it would be Dr. and because it is informal other doctors would be addressed as Dr. IF he also knew the other doctor like at the same department or school. However an argument could be made that if he doesn’t know the other doctor you could use his doctorate especially if it is not a Ph.D. since in the academic setting a “Dr.” is assumed to be a Ph.D. holder.
“Dr. Dough, I was just talking to Asswipe (Ahz-wee-pay) Jones, SJD …”
“Dr. Dough, I was just talking to Dr. Jones …”
Yes, and MDs or Ph.D.'s shilling for a product or service in advertisements.
ETA: re Voyager
I had an English prof who had one of those third-rate “educational advancement” Ph.D.s that many in public institutions get by grinding through a summer session or two, report to HR in order to get the salary bump, and then (properly) hide in a drawer. This one insisted on being called “Dr. Pompousass” and it will give you some indication of her quality as an educator…
It’s incorrect for men to do so. Traditional etiquette dictated that a woman introduce herself that way so as to clue others in on which title she used. Signature blocks included her title in parentheses; ie (Miss) Jane Smith. This has all fallen by the wayside since “Ms” became popular.
Hmm., that’s quite interesting! I have to admit being new to my school and the system here, and am acquainted with only one person who’s a Reader; she insists on being called ‘professor.’ I’m suspecting now with your response that’s she’s a bit forward in that regard (she also likes to remind me that she’s the ‘second best authority!’ in her particular field; one of my colleagues always adds, ‘In a field of two!’ :p) Knowing how particular people are here about the title, I suspect she’s being awfully cheeky then – she does like to lord it over the newbies. I withdraw my comment then, as erroneous information!
Leo Bloom – Yep, in the US, in my experience, lecturers/instructors were frequently adjuncts who had MAs or were ABDs ('all but dissertation) and were ranked below assistant professor in pay scale. Sometimes, though, non-PhDs were full time instructors, for example in the language or music department.
Over here, though, lecturer is what you’d call an assistant professor in the US. The equivalent of an adjunct at my school might be called a part time instructor or a ‘fractional’ because they are on anything from a .1 to a .9 contract (yet we have full-time fractional lecturers as well.) Some people choose to stay at a high fractional contract so that they don’t get burdened with administrative duties.
Some particular departments (Art, Music, and the like) might have a slew of MFAs (performing artists’ terminal-degree) and just a handful of PhDs (art/music historians and the like) or EdDs (art ed, music ed, and the like), but they’ll all be considered terminal degreed’ up; so 20 ‘professors’ and only 3 of them are Dr.
I have found that “Dear John Smith” works well enough in situations like this.
My question is why you would need to address him at all. It’s an email, not a piece of paper that might need to be routed to the proper recipient.