If my professor signs his email with his first name, does that mean I should call him by his first name?

My rule of thumb, when addressing anyone who is my superior (i.e., professor, boss, whatever) is to call them Mr./Dr. Last Name until they tell me otherwise. By that I mean, when they actually tell me, oh please call me Frank.

It would be a bigger gaffe to call him by his first name when that isn't what he intended than to keep calling him Dr. Professor and have him correct you.

Since he signs email with his first, he can expect to be addressed by first name. If he wants to be formal, he can sign

by last name.

I am a professor in Europe fyi

False. If President Obama writes you a message and signs it Barack, you should address him as "Mr. President" or "President Obama" unless he tells you otherwise. If Judge Joe Smith writes you a message and signs it "Joe", you should address him as "Your Honor" or "Judge Smith" unless he tells you otherwise. If Joe Smith is your dad, writes you a message and signs it "Love Joe", you address him as "Dad" unless he tells you otherwise. If Joe Smith is your professor, writes you a message and signs it "Joe", you should address him as "Professor Smith" or "Dr. Smith" unless he tells you otherwise.

I'm a math professor, and I agree with this. A student is always better off calling a professor by "Dr. Lastname" or "Prof. Lastname" until the professor stops and corrects them. You will not offend anyone by acting too formal. If the professor stops you and asks you to call you by his/her first name, then by all means it is OK. But I've seen some professors get a little offended if you make the mistake in the other direction.

I want to be called "Dr. Lastname." It really grinds me when students call me by just my last name though. I'd prefer they call me my first name then to just call me by my lastname. I don't know what it is, but it is really annoying. I just feel it's like a boss coming up to you at your desk and saying "Johnson, where are those TPS reports?"

That said, I think it's always a good thing the first day of class to tell the students how you prefer to be addressed.

I graduated 2 years ago, and I still address my former professors as "Dr. X." A few have corrected me! So now I call them by their first name.

How would you sign an e-mail that is sent to a student?

Another prof here, middle-aged white guy.

No first names, ever. Sometimes those first names in emails are auto-generated too. At no point should you ever address your prof. by his/her first name. Perhaps at a small college where it is accepted, but I would suggest you always address them with the title they have earned.

No students have ever called me by my first name, and I never had a standard policy. They probably felt uncomfortable doing so, and saying Dr. X or Prof. Y is a sign of respect and demonstrates your acknowlegment of their hard-won position.

Sometimes a few students shorten my title to Dr. D, but this was usually well after they knew me and generally outside the classroom. A few times students address me by using my last name, and this has never bothered me because that's how those students address most people in their lives. Plus, I had a bunch of older brothers and nobody in my town knew our first names after years of having us around, so I was often called "there's another XXX boy".

Please don't loosen up! You're not your students' friend, and your title bestows an authority upon you that is presumably deserved, which your students have not yet earned. This is why grading is a one way street.

professor and runner wrote:

yes. I am a professor and I never sign my emails to students with my first name or use my first name in class. I have students call me Prof Runner. Your prof is sending a signal so no worries for you. (I am a youngish woman so I can't afford to go with the first name, but maybe when I get old I'll loosen up.)

junior undergrad wrote:

Say the professor is Dr. John Smith. I would always just call this person Dr. Smith, but many of my professors sign their emails simply using their first name. Does this mean I should just call him John?

The best is if you ever have a professor with the last name Jones who also has a PhD. I had one and would call him Dr. Jones in the best Short Round voice I could. Only about 2 other kids in the entire class understood, but it was well worth the joke.

professor and runner wrote:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

yes. I am a professor and I never sign my emails to students with my first name or use my first name in class. I have students call me Prof Runner. Your prof is sending a signal so no worries for you. (I am a youngish woman so I can't afford to go with the first name, but maybe when I get old I'll loosen up.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I don't believe you are a professor. Few professor's are 'young'.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

combinatorist wrote:

I'm a math professor, and I agree with this. A student is always better off calling a professor by "Dr. Lastname" or "Prof. Lastname" until the professor stops and corrects them. You will not offend anyone by acting too formal. If the professor stops you and asks you to call you by his/her first name, then by all means it is OK. But I've seen some professors get a little offended if you make the mistake in the other direction.

I want to be called "Dr. Lastname." It really grinds me when students call me by just my last name though. I'd prefer they call me my first name then to just call me by my lastname. I don't know what it is, but it is really annoying. I just feel it's like a boss coming up to you at your desk and saying "Johnson, where are those TPS reports?"

That said, I think it's always a good thing the first day of class to tell the students how you prefer to be addressed.

I graduated 2 years ago, and I still address my former professors as "Dr. X." A few have corrected me! So now I call them by their first name.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I don't believe you are a professor. Few professors graduated '2 years ago'.

Just ask the person in question "What do you preferred to be called" that way you put them in their place by avoiding submissiveness to their being called "Dr. or Professor", some not all may enjoy the fact that they can be called their earned title when you're just bowing down to them i.e., they make you do that. It's an alpha male or female trip thing. I like first names better. But on the other hand the idea of people wanting to be called by a title is just like shaking hands ideally the process can be compared to the 'genital they want to feel'. The only exception it is mandatory to call a coach a coach... it is a law. Kind of like dogs when they sniff each other 'you know whats' of course I'm just being glib.

If they sign their email with their first name it means they want to sleep with you. Just make the first move at the next office hours.

Speaking as a professor, I really do not care whether I am called by my first name or by Dr. _____, as long as a student is engaged and trying to learn. Some students are formal and shy (I was when I was a student) and would not dream of calling me by my first name. Others are more direct.

It is not the form of address that matters to me, it is what they have to say (or ask) that matters!

I think that standing on formality is usually (not always) a sign of insecurity from a poor professor who knows that their performance in class does not merit true respect. I also think that excessive informality is often (not always) an attempt to convince students to forgive poor teaching.

As yet another prof I agree with well well.

I sign my emails with my first name and am not too concerned how they reply. They rarely reply to general announcements anyway.

The students generally write prof ___ or Dr ___.

The Indian students are over the top, "respected sir", or "esteemed professor" etc.

I really don't care.

If they show up regularly and are genuinely interested and show some effort, then I'm happy.

Does being a doctor or professor make you not a person?

I think you should call them Prof not Dr if they are an actual prof.

teddypendeeergrass wrote:

Since you pay his salary with your tuition you should be able to call him anything you like.

The majority of the salary for a professor in science or engineering is paid by grants, not tuition. Just saying...

juanwilliams wrote:

I say split the difference: Dr. John or Prof. John.

I say split the difference: Dr. John or Mac Rebennack

Just my two cents, I'd say call him "Professor Last Name" until he says to call him by his first name. If he is the sort of laid back guy that wants students to call him by his first name then he won't mind that you call him by his last name until he asks you to call him by his first name, whereas if he would like to be called by his last name it is much more likely (though not certain) that he would be offended by you calling him by his first name.