title use in academic settings

[Bruce Hagemeister]

Very interesting discussion.

I remember being an undergraduate student at a small private college in
Minnesota in the early 80s and my professor, an anthropological linguist,
who coincidentally was a U of Chicago graduate, making the point that some
students called him by his first name, which he preferred, some by Dr. + LN,
and others didn't call him anything at all!   I was among the latter.  I
must have felt that FN was too informal and didn't show enough respect,
while Dr. + LN showed too much distance.

I teach English in Greece (in a non-university setting) and find that
although I want my students to address me by my first name, they rarely ever
do.  The majority address me as Mr. + FN, which  is a middle road between
the distance of Mr. + LN, and the closeness of  FN.

Bruce