Hi guys,

I have a question about how to call the people in my department. As you know, academics have their own academic ranks (from Assistant Professor to Professor). If an academic is at the rank of Assistant Professor, would you call him/her 'Professor X' or 'Dr. X'?

I usually call an academic Professor if he/she is at the rank of Professor. For Associate Professor and Assistant Professor, I call them 'Dr. X'. Is that right?

I would like to seek your views on this matter. Thanks.

The job title 'Assistant Professor' has just recently been introduced at my university, and it seems to incorporate those who were previously Teaching Fellows or Lecturers, so they would all be 'Dr.X'. I think Assistant Professor is a really strange job title in this respect - I think I'd rather have the previously used titles if I was in one of those jobs, rather than one which is a bit meaningless because it denotes the most junior members of the department! Would be interested to hear if this is something being adopted in all universities.

Hi Dotdottung, in my university, I call those with associate professor as 'Dr. X' but those with professor title, I address them as 'Professor X'. Actually, the 'associate professor' title in my university is a promotion for those who were previously senior lecturers/assistant professors. How you address them I think also depends on the organization culture and your relationship with them I think, e.g. those who I am friendly with don't mind being called "Dr" as opposed to "Prof".... :-)

I just call them by their first names...

Ditto. Formal introductions or correspondence are the only occasion I can think of where you would refer to their title.