# What should I call my professors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104 "2005-01-22T17:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/1 "2005-01-22T17:07:23Z")
This is inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298271). I’m an undergrad, and I frequently talk to my professors on e-mail and the phone. What should I call them? I essentially have three options (since I only have male professors): mister, doctor, or professor. “Mister” seems weird, since they have two other titles “above” it. “Doctor” makes me think of an M.D., but it also reinforces their position as well-educated men. “Professor” seems the best, but I’ve never associated it with having a Ph.D. Is there a custom? ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/2 "2005-01-22T17:08:54Z")
It’s always “Dr. Lastname,” unless they asked to be called by their first name for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/3 "2005-01-22T17:14:13Z")
Undergrad; I call my professors “Professor So-and-so” and “Professor Such-and-such”, and they don’t seem to mind. YMMV, though. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/4 "2005-01-22T17:27:29Z")
I have a question on that. Who counts as a professor in your usage? Here “Professor” and “Doctor” would be mutually exlcusive. Anyone who has the equivalent of a PhD is a doctor. A professor is only someone who holds his own chair - calling them “Doctor” would be inappropriate. OTOH a PhD couldn’t let you call him “Professor” because he isn’t entitled to that. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/5 "2005-01-22T17:28:16Z")
If the professor has a PHD then Doctor is correct. If not, then Professor. Ask them. Many of my professors told me to call them by their first names. One in particular said “Call me Jim, else use Doctor.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/6 "2005-01-22T17:33:39Z")
It varies from place to place; find out what the custom is at _your_ school. I know some places “Dr. \_\_\_\_\_” is standard, but where I went to college, I never heard anyone called “Dr.”; it would have sounded, I dunno, pretentious or medical or something. When we students talked to each other, we’d just refer to our profs by name (“firstname lastname”), or sometimes just the last or just the first name. I forget how we actually adressed them; maybe as “Prof. \_\_\_\_”? Or maybe we just tried _not_ to address them by name, so as to avoid the whole issue? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/7 "2005-01-22T17:39:49Z")
I’ve only had one or two professors that had doctorate degrees. Anyone wanting to be called “Dr. Soandso” would probably get funny looks from his colleagues, we’re pretty laid back around here. My professors were either “Last Name” or “First Name” or “Sir”, depending on the prof’s particular preference. It’s pretty easy to find out, too. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/8 "2005-01-22T17:42:54Z")
Around here, all professors have doctorates and all those with doctorates (who work here) are professors. Thus “professor” and “doctor” are pretty much synonomous. Someone without a doctorate who teaches a class is _not_ a professor. They are generally a graduate assistant. That is, they’ll have a doctorate some day, but they’re still working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/9 "2005-01-22T17:51:10Z")
I should say that every one of my professors has a doctorate in their subject. I suppose the easiest way would be to ask them. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/10 "2005-01-22T17:54:57Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > When we students talked to each other, we’d just refer to our profs by name (“firstname lastname”), or sometimes just the last or just the first name. I forget how we actually adressed them; maybe as “Prof. \_\_\_\_”? Or maybe we just tried _not_ to address them by name, so as to avoid the whole issue? That’s what I do (try not to address them by name to avoid the issue). Most of my professors have a name with which they are referred to by the students–Dr. Lastname, Firstname Lastname, Firstname, some sort of nickname, initials, whatever–but for some of them I still don’t know what I should call them when I talk _to_ them. (I’m a freshman in a pretty small music department, so I imagine by the time I graduate I will know these things.) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/11 "2005-01-22T17:57:42Z")
I have come to understand that this is unusual, but at my university we called our professors by their first names. I just finished a class at a local community college and we called our professor “Professor \_\_\_\_” or “Dr. \_\_\_\_”. Sounds weird and formal to me. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/12 "2005-01-22T18:08:45Z")
**kellner** , in the U.S. it’s always correct to call someone with any type of doctorate (PhD, MD, DO, DDS, PharmD - there are lots of different degrees) “Dr.” If it’s a non-clinical doctorate (PhD, for example), it usually sounds pretentious to call someone “Dr.” unless you’re in a formal academic setting. Read the thread the OP linked to for more discussion and opinions. There are typically three ranks of professors at U.S. universities: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor (sometimes referred to as full professors). Typically, you’re hired in as an assistant professor, then have several years to prove that you should receive tenure. If you meet publishing, teaching and service requirements during your assistant professorship, you are promoted to associate prof. If you continue to meet requirements, you can be promoted to a full professorship. Chairs (the figurative ones, not the literal ones…) are relatively rare at universities here. They’re usually referred to as endowed chairs because someone donated lots of money to cover the position’s salary in perpetuity. Of course, there are also chairs of departments…but that’s something different: short for chairman/chairwoman/chairperson; just means they’re the head of their department. OK - that was lots more than I intended to write… As for the **OP** : listen for what others call your profs. Or call them “Professor” or “Doctor;” they’ll tell you if they want to be called something else. GT ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/13 "2005-01-22T18:08:54Z")
I always used “Sir” or “Ma’am”. Much easier to remember. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/14 "2005-01-22T18:37:28Z")
It appears my convention of ‘Hey, dude’ isn’t getting much support. Oh well it worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/15 "2005-01-22T18:44:57Z")
“Dr. whoever” is always the standard, but I called 70+% of my professors by their first name. Then again I was around my school for a _very_ long time and organismic biologists tend to be less snobby about such things as long field trips in particular tend to break down formalities. In fact, certain older figures excepted, I tended to rather look down on the field biologists who preferred to be referred to by their titles, but that was my own ( perhaps unfair ) hangup. In other departments, I more generally stuck to the “Dr. \_\_\_” format, with one or three exceptions ( the ones I had beers with ). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Still\_Gassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Still\_Gassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Still_Gassy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/16 "2005-01-22T18:49:54Z")
Anyone with a doctorate degree–including a Ph.D.–is entitled to be called “Doctor.” In fact, the term was acribed to scholars before it was co-opted by the medical field to connote a physician. The only “doctorate” I’m aware of where that isn’t common is a J.D., a degree that most attorneys have. “Professor” is a job title. One does not have to hold a doctorate necessarily to be a professor. At most four-year research universities, professors do hold doctorates, though some may have terminal degrees such as M.F.A.'s, some may have been hired before a doctorate was required, and some may have significant life experience that qualifies their hiring. One professor at my university had only a B.A., but she had published critically-acclaimed fiction for nearly 50 years, and so she was hired as a full professor. Ranks in colleges and universities vary, but they usually go assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, and professor emeritus. Some institutions may have the rank of “instructor” or “lecturer,” which usually is lower than assistant professor and often connote a part-time, or adjunct, person. Teaching assistants–TA’s–are graduate students, meaning they teach as part of their indentured servitude to the institution they are attending and are not part of the official rank structure. Community colleges often don’t require Ph.D.s because they teach lower level undergraduate courses, the same ones often taught by teaching assistants and low-ranking professors. However, there was a time in higher education when a doctorate wasn’t as necessary as it is today to teach at a four-year college; supply of doctorates in most fields has outstripped demand, so colleges and universities have enculturated the notion that a Ph.D. is de riguer. However, it’s still common to see people in highly specialized technical fields without Ph.D.s, simply because most people in those fields find more lucrative opportunities in the private sector. And, finally, call your instructor what he or she wishes to be called. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/17 "2005-01-22T18:54:36Z")
I went to two schools that were fairly conventional (one was part of the Ivy League). Both the terms “Professor. last name” and “Dr. last name” were both acceptable in all circumstances (see below however). The exceptions would be if the professor did not have a doctorate you would never use “Dr.”. “Professor” applied to all ranks of professor. First names were not acceptable to use by undergraduate students accept under special circumstances such as an internship with personal familararity with the person. Here is the pattern that I noticed: 1. Undergraduates that had a class with the professor used “Professor.last name” 2. Everyone else used “Dr.last name”. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/18 "2005-01-22T18:55:36Z")
I’m in my second semester of the third year of my undergraduate studies, and thus far, every single professor I’ve had has asked us to address him or her by his or her first name. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/19 "2005-01-22T19:27:25Z")
Professor here. Most of my students call me “Professor” or “Dr.,” and either is acceptable. My actual degree is Doctor of Musical Arts in composition. When I first got my job, I thought I’d be cool with students calling me by my first name, like I was when I was a TA. It turns out that isn’t true. I earned the right to be called Doctor or Professor and I prefer it, at least when undergraduates are addressing me. At my instutition it varies by department, but in most of them calling professors by their first name is simply not done. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104/20 "2005-01-22T19:29:09Z")
My advice is: don’t call your professor by their first name unless they expressly give you permission to do so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-call-my-professors/286104.md?page=2)