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Can an academic administrator go around calling himself “doctor” if he holds only an honorary doctorate?
This is an actual matter of debate over at Faulkner State Community College, a school in southern Alabama. According to an article by Brendan Kirby in the Press-Register:
The longtime president of Faulkner State Community College is widely known around Bay Minette as “Dr. Gary Branch,” but the title comes from an honorary degree awarded in the mid-1980s. Branch said he never has hidden the fact that his doctorate was honorary. “I’ve been very open about it. When that was awarded, we sent out press releases,” he said. “It’s always been clear that it’s honorary. I’m very proud of it.”
Lynne Thrower, the interim vice chancellor of legal and human resources for the two-year- system, said there is no requirement that people with honorary degrees insist that other people refrain from using the honorary title. She noted that Branch’s honorary doctorate came from Livingston — now the University of West Alabama — which is an accredited public university.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. He was conferred the degree in an honorary way,” she said. “They are real. They’re from real schools. They’re just honorary.”
Well there’s nothing legally wrong with it, but come on. It’s true that there’s no statutory requirement that people with honorary degrees never allow other people to call them “doctor,” but they still should.
Correcting an error like that is pretty necessary if someone wishes to be taken seriously as an academic administrator. This was probably not Branch’s intention but allowing anyone to use the “doctor” is troublesome because it suggests the behavior of a swindler.
An honorary degree is a ridiculous throw-away device and represents a present only between a college and someone it wishes to honor. It by no means confers any academic qualifications on the person who got the piece of paper and he should take care never to reference it outside of the institution that issued it.
This latest problem came up after one Alabama woman discovered that two administrators at another Alabama community college received online doctorates from unaccredited institutions.
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rrk1 on October 21, 2011 6:30 PM:
Seems to me this is much ado about very little. Worse: it's petty. Honorary degrees given by prestigious colleges and universities to people of accomplishment and talent are really a thank you, or a recognition of service to that institution. They aren't "throw away", as you say. Is an honoree really supposed to say, if they are addressed as doctor, "Oh no, I'm not really a doctor." Oh come on. Lighten up.
Many recipients of honorary degrees are far more accomplished than those who get earned doctorates, and if you're talking about corruption or low standards in some corners of academia that's one thing, but this is really a teapot tempest.
Tired Liberal on October 21, 2011 6:41 PM:
Yes, institutions sometimes recognize a service to the institution by granting an honorary degree--an example would be donating a big pile of money. Allowing the use of the honorary title in an academic setting is implying that he "earned" the degree, and he did not. This is dishonest. This is no different than a job applicant's claiming a degree that he/she does not hold on a job application. Doing so would disqualify the applicant from being considered and would be grounds of dismissal if discovered after the applicant was hired.
maryQ on October 21, 2011 9:16 PM:
Aww, please don't make this about "academic administrators". Please just make it about liars and people who falsify their credentials. Which is never OK.
Snarki, child of Loki on October 21, 2011 11:14 PM:
The problem isn't the guy using the title "Doctor" after receiving an honorary doctorate.
The problem is colleges handing out honorary doctorates far too easily. Like grade inflation writ large.
(and in any case, it isn't the "Dr" in front of the name that really counts, it's the letters after the name: "Ph.D, M.D., J.D.", etc. If they leave off the "(hon)" then they really are misrepresenting themselves.)
Bob M on October 22, 2011 12:21 AM:
Shows perfectly the thinking of educational administrators.