At least here in the US, and probably everywhere in the English speaking world, holding a Doctoral degree entitles you to the prenominal title of “Dr.”, e.g. someone named John Doe with a PhD in English Literature may be addressed as “Dr. John Doe”, or “John Doe, PhD”. Holders of other degrees seem to be theoretically allowed to put their degrees after their name, such as “Mary Jones, BA MA”, but that is pretentious.
Is there a title similar to “Dr.” that, in theory, applies to people with lower degrees, even if antiquated, pretentious, or socially discouraged? For example, could George McDonald, who has a BS, be referred to as “Bachelor McDonald”? What about in non-English speaking lands?
In Germany some non-doctoral degrees are before the name (notably the degrees starting with Diplom, e.g. Dipl.-Ing., Dipl.-Kfm.), the others are after the name. For example I am Dipl.-Ing Mops; if I had studied for a masters degree in some arts field I’d be Mops M.A. . In contrast to a doctorate, these degrees are only used with the name in a work/professional context.
For example, if a professional commitee or some such had on its panel
Dr. rer.nat August Müller
Dipl.-Ing. Walter Meier
Sabine Schulz M.A.
they’d be listed in that way in print, but addressed, both in writing and orally, as Herr Dr. Müller, Herr Meier and Frau Schulz, respectively.
ETA: the professorial title (Prof.) is also prefixed and also used in address, but ist’s not a ‘lower’ title as a doctorate is almost always a prerequisite, except in actual artistic disciplines (music, painting etc)
You might make a case for graduates of some religious institutions where completing the course of study essentially allows you to enter the ministry, although there may also be some ordination process not strictly associated with the course of study. You then have a title like “Reverend”, “Father” or “Rabbi”.
At the community college I went to, many instructors used the title “Professor” even though they didn’t have a doctorate. That was the first I had ever encountered that usage, and I was (and still am) a little dubious about it :dubious:
Are you limiting the question to academic titles, or including other non-academic titles that prepend the name?
How about religious titles, like Rev. – I suppose to be “for real” those have to be conferred in some official sort of way, but does fit your OP question?
How about other non-academic titles that prepend the name, like royal or noble titles like Prince or Emperor (as in Emperor Norton), or even Sir for a knight? ETA: Or even the lowly Mister / Miss / Missus for the lowly likes of you and me.
Which immediately leads to Military titles: everything from Private to General.
ETA: yabob ninjaed me on the religious titles. GMTA.
More ETA: Where you keep getting all these question from?
Professorships are job titles and have littel to do with academic titles. Anyone that is teaching at a collage can call himself professor…just like anyone at the head of a company can call himself CEO. BA, MA or PhD, you have to earned the equivalent degree.
I once met a woman who had a PhD and was a professor. Her then husband had two PhDs and was also a professor. She once gave a lecture in Vienna and was introduced as Prof. Dr. Frau Prof. Dr. Dr. <name>.
In the US, “professor” is the correct form of address for anyone teaching at the post-secondary level, regardless of whether they have a doctorate. Other countries are different.
Just don’t call them “doctor” if they don’t have a Ph.D.
There’s the somewhat antiquated title “Nurse” (e.g., “yes, Nurse Ratched”) which traditionally only went to those who had actually graduated from nursing school and received their certification. But, like Professor, I’ve only ever heard it used in a workplace setting.
I don’t know about other countries, but in French-speaking countries lawyers and other judicial professionals (notaries, etc.) are usually adressed as “master” (maître) and can put the title Me before their name. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that their law degree is actually a master’s degree. In Canada, at least, law degrees are usually bachelor’s degrees.
Before the bachelor/master structure was introduced in the Netherlands a few years ago, the equivalent of a master’s in most cases was a Doctorandus title. Distinct from a doctor title which takes Dr., doctoranduses take Drs. I believe doctorandus is a Latin gerundivum form meaning ‘has yet to become educated’. There were also engineering titles (Ing., for ingenieur) and law titles (Mr., for Meester). The last ones were handed out just a few years ago, so these titles are all still quite common.
Informally, anyone teaching at the post-secondary level may be called “professor.” Formally, most institutions have official titles, such as “Professor,” “Assistant Professor,” “Associate Professor,” or “Instructor.”
I would not dream of insisting that my students call me “Professor” with just a Master’s. I teach under contract, so I am not an Adjunct. I usually settle for Instructor, but the students sometimes get more informal.
Not prenominal, but the semi-antiquated practice of J.D.s putting “Esquire” or “Esq.” at the end is a similar idea. Apparently this title can also be inherited in the world of Bill & Ted.
Many Spanish speaking countries offer a degree called the Licentiatura (Licentiate). Depending on the country, this can be similar in level of requirements to either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in English speaking countries. Holders of the Licentiatura can use the abbreviation Lic. (Licenciado) before their name. Similarly there are degrees in Engineering (Ingeniero/Ing.) and Architecture (Arquitecto/Arq.) that provide pre-nominal titles.
In Puerto Rico, at least, lawyers use the title licenciado if they’ve passed the bar exam. IIRC, engineers and architects that have also passed their respective board examinations also use the titles Colibrí mentioned (Ing. and Arq.). Lawyers, engineers, and architects that have not passed their exams cannot use the titles. Or I guess they should, but that would be lying, as the title implies the person has passed the required examinations.
At every institution I’ve had contact with, all professors, assistant professors, and associate professors were correctly addressed as “professor” regardless of whether they held doctorates. Those that did hold doctorates were more often addressed as “doctor,” so, by default, anyone addressed as “professor” was someone with only a master’s degree.
Instructors without doctorate degrees were usually not addressed by title or name at all. There was some degree of awkwardness, because they were neither professors nor doctors, but no one really felt comfortable addressing them as Mr./Ms. or by given name.
“Esq.” for American lawyers is more modern than antiquated. It took off like a rocket in the United States when women started entering the legal profession in large numbers. Ted wasn’t using “esq.” in the sense of lawyers. He was using “esq.” in the traditional (semi-antiquated) British sense, in which “esq.” is an alternative to “Mr.”
The institution may have rules about what the various faculty members are called but as far as the students are concerned you’re either a doctor or a professor.
True, but it should be noted that Canadian law schools (the common-law ones) are moving towards the American Juris Doctor (JD) degree. It makes sense; both countries’ law schools follow a similar admission requirement (law is a second-entry degree, requiring at least a bachelor’s degree first, as well as the LSAT), and both follow the same course of study (the Langdellian system). This is in contrast to some other Commonwealth countries’ legal education, where a law degree is a true first-entry degree; and thus, a bachelor’s degree.
Regardless, just as in the US, no Canadian lawyers with J.D.s would ever think of calling themselves “Doctor.”
My law school, which is now granting J.D.s, has informed me that I can trade in my Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) for a J.D. But the LL.B. gives me more letters after my name!
An ornithological field assistant should have a sub-doctoral degree, particularly in that there are an infinite number of variables to be aware of when calculating the avian density of a particular area.
This, of course, makes their titles poly-nomial.
At the US college and grad school I attended the idea of calling anyone who didn’t have the job title Assistant, Associate, or plain old Professor would have been absurd. In fact, we knew that in many cases Assistant professors had only an MA; that Associate professors either were happily non producing in tenure, or we’re still plugging away at getting it.
They’re called job titles because they’re entitled to it.
Now if I could only be able to sign my name with the letters with Abd. (all but dissertation) after it…
