Professions

The University Hierarchy

English universities have an old, established hierarchy which differs from many of their foreign counterparts.

Chancellor
The chancellor of a university is normally a prominent public figure, who acts as a ceremonial figurehead, for example, the Chancellor of Oxford University is the Rt Hon Baron Patten of Barnes, the last Governor of Hong Kong.

Vice-Chancellor
The chief executive of the university is generally known as the vice-chancellor (principal or president, etc).

Professor
Professors are senior academics. They are said to hold a ‘chair’ in a subject or subject area. Chairs may be established (ie not tied to the individual that holds it, and therefore passed on down the generations) or personal (ie linked to an individual).

Emeritus professors are professors who are officially retired, but still active within their universities.

Dean
Deans are heads of faculty (related academic departments).

Lecturer
Within the faculty are lecturers (who often, but not inevitably, hold a PhD), senior lecturers and readers.

Executive Head
The executive head of a university is the generic term that covers the vice-chancellor, president, principal or rector, irrespective of what the individual title may be.

Titles and Styles
The vice-chancellor, president, etc, of a university is addressed according to rank and name. If the subject of the letter concerns the university, the style of ‘Dear Vice-Chancellor’ may be used. In newer universities it is more usual to write to him or her by name.

The correct formal title for the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge is ‘The Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancellor’ (this also applies to a female Vice-Chancellor). The correct formal title for the Vice- Chancellor of Oxford is ‘The Reverend the Vice-Chancellor’ (irrespective of whether he/she is in holy orders).

Some Scottish universities appoint a joint vice-chancellor and principal, in which case he/she is addressed as ‘Principal’.

Head of College
The title of the head of college varies from college to college. If the head of a college is also in holy orders, the ecclesiastical rank precedes the name or appointment.

In correspondence the correct form of address is ‘Dear Master of Caius’, ‘Dear Principal of Newnham’, etc. The issue of gender does not therefore arise, and variations of marital status do not occur.

In a Scottish university, a rector has a unique meaning as the students’ representative.

Principal Titles

The following shows the principal titles adopted, together with
examples of colleges, etc, under each appropriate appointment:

Principal
Brasenose College, Oxford
Harris Manchester, Oxford
Hertford College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Linacre College, Oxford
Mansfield College, Oxford
Regent’s Park College, Oxford
St Anne’s College, Oxford
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Hilda’s, Oxford
St Hugh’s, Oxford
St Stephen’s House, Oxford
Somerville College, Oxford
Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Homerton College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Collingwood College, Durham
John Snow College, Durham
Josephine Butler College, Durham
St Aidan’s College, Durham
St Chad’s College, Durham
St Cuthbert’s Society, Durham
St Hild and St Bede College, Durham
St John’s College, Durham
St Mary’s College, Durham
Stephenson College, Durham
Trevelyan College, Durham
Ustinov College, Durham
Central School of Speech and Drama, London
Heythrop College, London
King’s College, London
Queen Mary College, London
Royal Academy of Music, London
Royal Holloway College, London
Royal Veterinary College, London (Principal and Dean)
St George’s College, London

President
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Green Templeton College, Oxford
Kellogg College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
St John’s College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Lucy Cavendish Collegiate Society, Cambridge
Murray Edwards (formerly New Hall), Cambridge
Queens’ College, Cambridge
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Ushaw College, Durham
Magee College, University of Ulster

Master
Balliol College, Oxford
Campion Hall, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
St Benet’s Hall, Oxford
St Catherine’s College, Oxford
St Cross College, Oxford
St Peter’s College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
Christ’s College, Cambridge
Churchill College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Darwin College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Girton College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Peterhouse, Cambridge
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
St Edmund’s College, Cambridge
St John’s College, Cambridge
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Grey College, Durham
Hatfield College, Durham
University College, Durham
Van Mildert College, Durham
Birkbeck College, London
University College, Dublin
University College, Cork

Warden
All Souls College, Oxford
Keble College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
Nuffield College, Oxford
St Antony’s College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Robinson College, Cambridge
Goldsmiths College, London

Dean
Christ Church, Oxford
London Business School
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
School of Pharmacy, London

Regent
Blackfriars, Oxford

Rector
Exeter College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford

Provost
Oriel College, Oxford
Queen’s College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
King’s College, Cambridge
University College, London (Provost and President)
Trinity College, Dublin

Director
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Institute of Education, London
London School of Economics and Political Science
School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Chief Executive
Institute of Cancer Research

Professor
A professor is addressed by name, eg ‘Professor Henry Brewer’. When a professor retires from his or her chair at a university, and emeritus rank is conferred, the professor emeritus (or emeritus professor) continues to be addressed as before.

Should a professor be a canon (or have a higher ecclesiastical rank), he or she is sometimes known as ‘Professor Brewer’, but strictly speaking the ecclesiastical rank supersedes the academic. He would be known as ‘Canon Brewer’ rather than as ‘Professor Brewer’, but this is a matter of personal choice.

The academic style is used more often within a university and the ecclesiastical style outside, but the academic and ecclesiastical styles may be combined as ‘The Reverend Professor Henry Brewer’. The form ‘The Reverend Canon Professor Henry Brewer’ is never used as it is too cumbersome.

If a professor is also a member of the peerage, or a knight or dame, the academic style and title may be combined as ‘Professor Lord Ryder’ or ‘Professor Dame Elizabeth Pulteney’. He/she may prefer to be known by title alone.

Doctorates
The recipient of a doctorate conferred by a university or other body, such as the Council for National Academic Awards, is entitled to be addressed as ‘Doctor’. The exception to this is a surgeon, who is known as Mr/Mrs/Miss, etc.

In practice, when a well-known figure outside the academic world receives an honorary doctorate, the recipient does not generally adopt the title of ‘Doctor’, especially when he or she already has other styles or titles.

Letters Denoting Degrees

Order of Placing Letters of Degrees After Names
The order of letters after the name depends upon the precedence of faculties within the conferring university, and whether a particular university places the degrees conferred in descending order (in order of seniority) or in ascending order (the order by which they are taken). Most universities adopt the ‘ascending order’ system. The position of the appropriate letters thus vary according to the awarding university and the name of the degree:

Degree Abbreviations

Letters Denoting University Degrees
Letters denoting university degrees are fourth in the order of precedence of letters after the name, following orders and decorations conferred by the Crown, royal appointments and other appointments (QC, JP, DL). All letters after the name are preceded by the abbreviation Bt – if applicable – and Esq.

Doctorates in the faculties of divinity and medicine (DD, MD) and master’s degrees in the latter (eg MS) are given in all correspondence. Other divinity degrees (eg BD) may be included. Other degrees in medicine (eg MB BS) are sometimes included, especially in professional correspondence, but if one progresses in the same degree only the higher is given.

Doctorates in other faculties are sometimes given, especially if correspondence concerns a particular profession or subject. The envelope may also be addressed with ‘Dr’ before the name, without giving his/her degrees (with the exception of surgeons).

Other degrees are seldom used in social correspondence; BA and MA are never used but they may be included in a formal list.

Academic Forms of Address