Addressing professors with a Ph.D.: Professor or Dr.? (doctors, assistant, masters)
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This. When writing letters or something more formal, some will put "Professor Smith" or whatever, but I don't think I've ever encountered a professor who wanted to be called that on a regular basis. Dr. Smith is the norm. IME, non-PhD lecturers usually just go by their first name.
That's all undergrad though. For grad school, most professors are just their first name. Only the really old ones go by Dr. Smith.
I agree. In DH's lab, they were all on a first name basis with the adviser. However, when addressing mail, etc, DH told me the guy liked to be called "Professor", not "Dr."
A university can grant the title of "Professor" to just about anybody that they wish, although accreditation bodies like to see at least 18 graduate hours in the teaching field.
On the other hand, if all you have is a masters, you'd better also have a Nobel Prize or something roughly equivalent to get the title "professor" in any school worth calling a research university.
For example: Johns Hopkins had a full professor of physics whose only academic qualification was a high school diploma (he did have some advanced course work, but no BS, MS, or PhD). He was also, hands down by general agreement, the world's greatest expert on diffraction gratings, and more generally a world-class expert on spectrometers.
For all practical purposes, this route up the ladder has been closed for many years . . .
Last edited by Hamish Forbes; 09-15-2013 at 04:04 PM..
If I'm at a point in my career where I have accomplished more in the workforce than they did before they switched to teaching the subject - that is the notch I'm talking about. Many universities boast about their faculties and show their experience. Many of them only applied their knowledge in the workforce for 5 years or so before becoming a professional instructor at a college. Some never even did that. Those are the ones I'm talking about.
You can become a tenure-track, full-time professor at a community college with a master's degree, but it's getting more difficult as you will be competing with more PhDs.
When I worked at a national lab, no one ever used titles. If an intern called me "Dr." I would correct them and ask them to use my first name. When I started teaching at a university I figured I would just go by my first name. My department head shot me down and said, "We don't let the students use our first names." So for now, at least, I still go be "Dr." or "Professor", although I do go up for tenure very soon, at which time I will start the transition back to first name.
If I'm at a point in my career where I have accomplished more in the workforce than they did before they switched to teaching the subject - that is the notch I'm talking about. Many universities boast about their faculties and show their experience. Many of them only applied their knowledge in the workforce for 5 years or so before becoming a professional instructor at a college. Some never even did that. Those are the ones I'm talking about.
My "advisor" at my last school went straight from her BS degree, to her Masters, to teaching. (all at the same school)
Not only was I older than her, but I had years of various "real world experience" in the subject.
I finished school 11 years after I started (had an abbreviated military career between) and found that nowadays.... Teachers seem to have little actual experience on the subject they are teaching.
Maybe they didnt years ago and I just didn't have enough experience to see it.
This is quite disrespectful. The reason you consult with PhDs and MDs is because they have attained a vast amount of knowledge and you lack knowledge. Their accomplishments are worthy of acknowledgement.
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Originally Posted by Themanwithnoname
Calling BS here.
Most of their papers are merely rehashing someone's rehashing of smeone's rehashing.
(currently watching my GF finish up her PHD)
When I was in school I'd call them Mam, Sir, professor, Doctor... Whatever they wanted. Doesn't matter to me, whatever makes them happy.
Did have one who was a real itch (add the "b") she had failed in everything she had done till she landed In academia. (where, if you play politics enough, no matter how much of a failure you are... You have a home)
I'd say professor, mam, dr etc... Whichever came to mind/toung first.
One day she got snippy with me after I called her mam... She told me to call her Dr... That she had earned it.
I told her I would, but to call me Sgt, since I had earned it! (yes, I got that from a joke and waited YEARS to use it!) she liked me no more than I liked her, and did her worst... But I still pulled my A despite her best attempts (did have to go to the department chair over one of her shanagans)
I put most academics right up there with lawyers and politicians... Although when you find one of the few... The class is a real enjoyment!
NJ Best was commenting on a post that said if he was consulting with an MD, he called him by their first name. In that comment, he was not talking about academic Dr.s.
It depends how they want to be addressed, but in my experience they prefer (and the safe bet is) to use "Dr." I had a highly experienced foreign policy professor of some renown (has a Ph.D.) who everyone just called "Bud." I've also had a weird hybrid with a math professor who was called "Dr. Sarah" (Sarah being her first name).
I've found it's pretty easy to judge which they prefer based on their attitude and what they say on the first day of class. I don't know of any professors in my department (theatre) who go by their last name to students, not even the department head. I keep formality for the sake of e-mails, although that got a laugh from at least one professor.
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Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy
When I worked at a national lab, no one ever used titles. If an intern called me "Dr." I would correct them and ask them to use my first name. When I started teaching at a university I figured I would just go by my first name. My department head shot me down and said, "We don't let the students use our first names." So for now, at least, I still go be "Dr." or "Professor", although I do go up for tenure very soon, at which time I will start the transition back to first name.
That's ridiculous. It creates a distancing effect between professors and students whether or not the professor wants that to exist. You should be able to set the tone of your classes.
It creates a distancing effect between professors and students whether or not the professor wants that to exist. You should be able to set the tone of your classes.
Students and professors are not playmates -- there should be a great deal of distance between them. Professors are there to teach and conduct research, whereas students are there to learn and to do what they're told until they grow up.
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(yes, I got that from a joke and waited YEARS to use it!) she liked me no more than I liked her, and did her worst... But I still pulled my A despite her best attempts (did have to go to the department chair over one of her shanagans)
