Susan wrote:
>Actually, this is probably not true. How people refer to those with
>doctorates is not standard. For example, the New York Times uses
>Mr/Ms except for MDs--or at least it used to; in fact this was stated in
>its usage guide. using Mr/Ms hearkens back to an earlier
>age of academics, when one did not flaunt one's degrees. I recall as
>an undergrad at Berkeley, the English dept referred to its faculty as
>Mr/Ms, while the science departments all used Dr. I have a hunch that
>the Chronicle of Higher Education follows the humanities-tendency
>and does not employ Dr for anyone, although I may be mistaken.
I suspect you are right. Science magazine, on the other hand, never uses
Dr, only people's last names "Watson stated" "Crick was surprised to find"
and so on. I am comforted to find that the "Ms" was not a deliberate
statement on women having less respect. Where I went to school, all the
humanities profs were Mr. and Ms because some didn't have doctorates (the
Masters in Fine Arts, for example, is a terminal degree) and they didn't
want to make confusing distinctions.
Julia Frugoli
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Clemson University
132 Long Hall
Clemson, SC 29634
phone: 864-656-1859
email: jfrugol at clemson.edu
temporary contact info (thru 9-20-00)
Southern Crop Improvement Facility
2123 TAMU
College Station TX 77843
phone 979-862-3495
FAX 979-862-4790
