How to address a professor - by Dr. or by name?

[red_velvet]

Hey people,

 

It's a bit off topic, but I am really having a dilemma here! Should I address a professor by Dr. So and So, or by first name in email correspondence? I always start with Dr., but then sometimes I see that a professor uses his(her) first name at the end of email before signature, and I use it too. It just seems to me that this way he(she) is showing that they prefer being called by first name. Is it wrong?

 

When I was in grad school couple of years ago I was probably the only student who said Dr. ..., because everyone else was just calling professors by their names! I guess it's a cultural thing, but I just don't seem to get it when it's appropriate!

 

Thanks!

[iphi]

I would say "Dr." or "Professor" until they specifically ask you to call them by their first name. It's always better to err on the side of being too polite than the other way around!

[iphi]

Of course, this is the same way I ended up saying, "Mr. and Mrs. ______" (or if I'm honest, trying wordlessly to get their attention so I don't have to call them anything) to my SO (of 5 years!)'s parents!

Edited May 10, 2014 by iphi

[maelia8]

I'd stick with dr. or professor until they tell you otherwise, or they start signing their emails with only their first name or nickname. I wouldn't go off of what other grad students address them - they might have a more intimate relationship with the prof and already be on a first-name basis.

[Dedi]

My POI started signing his e-mails with his first name (or initials), so I was unsure of what to call him. Sometimes it's best to ask, "What do undergraduate students call you?" Turns out my POI generally preferred undergrads to call him Dr. ________. I think he signed the e-mails with his first name out of habit (and it's shorter).

 

If you're addressing a professor for the first time, you generally want to use Dr.

 

How to address a professor can sometimes be tricky. At my university, students call the biology professors by their first name. I don't know why, and no other department does that.

[VioletAyame]

I addressed all my POIs as Dr. and Professor in our email correspondences and kept doing so until we talked for the first time. Usually then they'd introduce themselves as [first name] and then I could start calling them so. As far as I can tell in our discipline, most prefer to be on first name basis with their grad students.