<p>When you don't know if the professor has a Ph.D., what do you address them as in an email? And will a professor who does have a Ph.D. be offended if you don't use Dr. if they aren't listed anywhere on the school or department's website?</p>
<p>I have always addressed my professors in e-mails as Professor (last name) unless they make it clear it’s acceptable to call them by their first name. I’ve never addressed a college professor as Dr. before</p>
<p>Same…I always start with something like, “Hello Professor __<strong><em>,” and then the body. I have called professors “Dr. </em></strong>” before, but only when they say that’s what they prefer to be called.</p>
<p>Just do whatever’s in the syllabus.</p>
<p>If there is no syllabus or you haven’t gotten it yet, “professor” is generally your safest bet. </p>
<p>If a professor prefers “Dr,” they’ll let you know.</p>
<p>And while you don’t know if they have a PhD, you’ll flatter them if nothing else. It wouldn’t be “bad” to do so.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure all my professors have PhDs (never seen one that doesn’t at my college), and I have yet to see anyone call one of them “Dr.” All I’ve ever heard in class or seen in emails is “Professor (last name).” Like the above posters said, if they prefer something else, they’ll tell you.</p>
<p>“Sup Prof,”</p>
<p>or </p>
<p>“Yo Prof”</p>
<p>Be different than your classmates.</p>
<p>I find that it is best to address your professors with ‘your majesty’. On the odd chance that they are not royalty, they usually are pretty flattered anyway.</p>
<p>“Professor.” It’s both the generic address for an instructor and an academic title above a PhD. (Some foreign professors might even be offended if you address them as “Dr.”)</p>
<p>What about addressing TA’s (that are teaching the class)? Do you still address them as professor?</p>
<p>Would you be e-mailing your TA before you ever met them?<br>
I’ve never even known who my TA’s were before the first day of class, and they’ve always gone by their first name.</p>
<p>So no, I would never call a TA “professor.” Because while a class teacher may not have a PhD, a TA isn’t even a legit teacher.</p>
<p>(If a grad student is teaching a class, they are not a “TA.” I’ve never had a grad student actually teach a class, but I guess in that situation if I had absolutely no clue what they were, that’d fall under what I said in my first post. If your teacher is a grad student, it will be made apparent when you go to class and addressing them after that will be different.)</p>
<p>For a TA, just address them by their first name like…</p>
<p>“Hi Colin,”</p>
<p>Vulgar obscenities go a long way in making your name stand out.</p>
<p>Professor.</p>
<p>Or 先生.</p>
<p>^Appropriate only in my Japanese classes.</p>
<p>I’ve had five classes where grad students were the “professors” - and I mean real classes not discussion sections. They just let us call them by their first name. </p>
<p>They would probably get a kick out of you calling them professor.</p>
<p>If you’re not sure if they have a PhD (though if they are your professor, they probably do), then I’d agree, just refer to him as Professor ____.
I personally do call my professors Dr, though. </p>
<p>Question: what do you guys refer to your TA’s as. I call all of mine by their first name…is this generally okay?</p>
<p>Professor _______.</p>
<p>Alternatively, for Korean class, it is always just 선생님</p>
<p>When talking to them in person, I tend to say Professor _____, but if I know they have a Ph.D (we have a People Finder… surprised no/few other schools have that also), then I’ll address them as Dr. in an e-mail. They seem to be fine with it.</p>