phd degree suffix

How to use the PhD title and all the little doctorate “rules”

There are many conventions in the academic world that can make it difficult to navigate the PhD title. The PhD title is awarded to those who have completed a doctoral degree but, not many people know how to use it once they have it.

This article will go through everything you need to know about using the PhD title and when you can start using it.

The “rules” are relatively simple and can be broken as they are not officially set in stone – other than when you can officially call yourself a doctor.

There is no one correct answer but it may be misleading if you use the PhD title incorrectly. Here are the recommendations for effective communication.

It very much depends on the setting. Here are some examples of how I would use my PhD titles awarded to me after my PhD degree.

How do you Write PhD correctly after a name? Is it ph d or phd?

It can be confusing to know exactly how to write PhD after your name. Which bits are capitalised? Is there a ‘.’ In the middle?

When writing a name with a PhD after it, the correct way to do so is to use “PhD” or “Ph.D. or Ph.D”

Depending on the preference of the individual, either form can be used.

However, if the individual has a business card that states their degree in full, then the more formal “Doctor of Philosophy” should be used.

It is important to note that using “PhD” without any periods is incorrect; this abbreviation should only be used in informal contexts such as emails or text messages. I tend to use PhD in my YouTube videos and some people have pointed out that this is incorrect…

Following the individual’s preferred format will ensure that their name and credentials are properly represented.

Should you use Dr as well as PhD?

Some people like to use Dr and PhD in their official titles. There are a couple of important points that you need to know about markers and academic titles.

• A person can have more than one marker in their name. For example my full title is Dr Andrew Stapleton, PhD, MChem.
• The doctor title at the front can be used as a variant to the PhD at the end.

It can be a little bit ambiguous if I was to use Dr Andrew Stapleton, PhD as there are two markers. This could mean that I have two PhD’s, it could mean that I have a PhD and a medical doctorate, or it could just be that I want to use both the doctor and the PhD tags for the one degree.

However, in my experience, I still like to use the doctor title at the front and the PhD tag at the end of my name for official purposes.

Academics would rarely use the PhD suffix in everyday communication. They would much rather just use the doctor title.

What is the proper title for a PhD?

The proper title for a PhD is Doctor of Philosophy. However, some teachers and professors like to be referred to without their official title.

If you are not sure about how your professor, lecturer, or friend with a PhD wishes to be officially addressed you can ask them.

Most of the time, I like to refer to my colleagues with their doctor title for official purposes, but I do not include the PhD at the end of their name. That is much better suited to a business card.

Your lecture may wish to be referred to as:

• Dr [last name]
• Dr [first name]

Asking them in the early stages of your relationship is the best way to work out which one they prefer.

If in doubt, always go for the more formal name and nomenclature.

When can you start to use your PhD title after your doctorate?

When you have earned your PhD, you can start using your title immediately. Although, it can be a little bit confusing as to when you have actually passed your PhD. Is it when you have submitted your dissertation? Is it when you have received the comments back?

The University of Adelaide says that you can use it from your conferral date:

Students can be conferred on one of five dates during the year and for PhD students the conferral date will be the first available following the completion of all the academic requirements of your degree, including final thesis lodgement and the disbursement of any outstanding financial obligations to the University.

I started using my PhD title as soon as my confirmation letter arrived at my house. It was the first letter from the University that referred to me as Dr Stapleton. It was incredibly excited.

Generally, it is acceptable to use the title “Dr.” both professionally and socially but socially, people very rarely use it – at least in Australia. But you should never use it if you are a PhD student, PhD candidate or enrolled in a PhD program without a previous PhD qualification. 

I do use it in professional settings but it always makes me feel a little bit awkward.

However, there may be some restrictions for certain settings. For example, if have a research degree resulting in a doctor title and you are working in a medical setting – some institutions do not like you to use Dr as it can confuse patients into thinking that you have a medical degree. 

Instead, they ask that you use the PhD tag at the end of your name rather than the doctoral title for official and professional communications.

What is the correct way to write PhD?

When writing about someone’s PhD, the correct way is to write the term in full and capitalize each letter.

This should be done for all academic degrees, not just PhDs.

For example, it would be “Doctor of Philosophy” or “PhD” instead of “Ph.D.”, “Dr.”, or “DPhil”.

Additionally, it is common to mention the field of study in which the degree was earned if known, such as “Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics”. It is also good practice to include the institution that granted the degree if it is a recognized one.

When writing about someone’s PhD, use proper capitalization and include relevant information like field of study and institution if known to ensure accuracy.

How do you put a PhD in a title?

Putting a PhD in a title is not as complicated as it may sound.

Generally speaking, the proper way to list a PhD in an academic or professional setting is by writing “Dr.” before the name, followed by the person’s full name and the appropriate abbreviations for their degree.

For example, if John Smith has earned a doctorate in psychology, his credentials would be listed as “Dr. John Smith, Ph.D.”

In some cases, such as when addressing someone formally in speech or on a business card, it may also be acceptable to list their credentials as “John Smith, Ph.D.”

Depending on context and personal preference, some people may also choose to list their higher degrees after their names by writing out the entire degree instead of just its abbreviation.

For example, John Smith could choose to write his full title as “John Smith, Doctor of Psychology”

However, I have not seen this in real academic life.

Should the font size of Ph.D. be the same as someone’s name?

The question of whether the font size of a Ph.D. should be the same as someone’s name is an interesting one.

On one hand, it could be argued that the Ph.D. deserves to be highlighted and therefore should be given a larger font size than someone’s name to denote its importance.

On the other, it could be argued that this would not be necessary or appropriate, and that treating everyone equally regardless of their title or degree is more important.

It depends on context and usage – if both names appear in the same document then they should likely have the same font size; however, if one appears in a formal setting such as a diploma or certificate, then it may make sense to give it a larger font size than someone’s name to emphasize its importance and significance.

Ph.Ds (or PhDs) are an important academic achievement and should be respected accordingly but without going overboard by giving them overly large fonts sizes which can take away from rather than add to their importance.

Wrapping up – doctoral title rules

this article has been over everything you need to know that using the PhD title properly and effectively.

The doctor title can be used in place of the PhD and for incredibly formal communications, such as a business email or card, you can use both.

However, sometimes using both can cause confusion as to whether or not there is a reason first using both the doctor and PhD tags. Nonetheless, many people still use both.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

2024 © Academia Insider

“M.D.” vs. “Ph.D.” vs. “Dr.”: Are They Synonyms?

Quick: when you hear the word doctor , what do you picture?

Most would probably describe someone in a white lab coat with a stethoscope hanging around their neck or someone in medical scrubs—someone you would seek out if you have a deep cut that needed stitches.

That word doctor , however, is a title assigned to many who don’t come close to that description, many of whom you wouldn’t want stitching up that cut. Take your English professor, for instance. No offense, Dr. Barrett. 

It can all be a bit confusing, which is why it’s important to know who and why someone might be called a doctor , as well as what all those initials and abbreviations after their name mean. Here we break it all down.

What does Dr. mean?

Let’s start with doctor or D r . for short. While the first definition of the word is “ a person licensed to practice medicine,” that doesn’t mean you want to take medical advice from anyone who calls themselves a doctor . There are many looser definitions of the word that follow and, frankly, make things a bit confusing.

For example, the third definition is older slang for a “cook, as at a camp or on a ship,” while the seventh entry is “an eminent scholar and teacher.” Bugs Bunny didn’t help matters either by plying anyone and everyone with his famous greeting,“What’s up, doc?” 

The term doctor can be traced back to the late 1200s, and it stems from a Latin word meaning “to teach.” It wasn’t used to describe a licensed medical practitioner until about 1400, and it wasn’t used as such with regularity until the late 1600s. It replaced the former word used for medical doctors— leech , which is now considered archaic. 

WATCH: When Did The Word "Doctor" Become Medical?

Physician vs. doctor : are these synonyms.

While the term physician is a synonym for doctor , it’s typically used to refer to those who practice general medicine rather than those who perform surgery, aka surgeons . 

A quack , on the other hand, is defined as “ a fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill.”

What does M.D. mean?

Moving on to initials that carry more weight than a nod from Bugs, let’s look at M.D.s .

M.D. , which can be used with or without the periods ( M.D. or MD )  is the designation for a medical doctor. This is earned by attending medical school (typically a four-year program after completing at least one undergraduate degree, plus a residency program), and learning to diagnose patients’ symptoms and offer treatment. 

The initials M and D stem from the Latin title  Medicīnae Doctor. There are many different types of doctors, with different specialties, but if you have a physical ailment, visiting a doctor with the initials M.D. is a good place to start.

Specialty doctors may add even more initials to their title, such as DCN (doctor of clinical nutrition), DDS (doctor of dental surgery), or countless others they acquire with additional training. To make things even more confusing, some may add abbreviations from medical associations they belong to, such as FAAEM (Fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine). 

Go Behind The Words!

• By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy policies.
• Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

What does Ph.D. mean?

As for Ph.D. , this stands for “doctor of philosophy.” It stems from the Latin term Philosophiae Doctor.

You can get a Ph.D. in any number of subjects, from anthropology to mythological studies. It’s not an easy feat, however, as to earn one, you must do original research and write a dissertation . 

Ph.D. vs. M.D .: are these synonyms?

There are two big differences between Ph.D. s and M.D .s. When it comes to medicine, M.D.s can prescribe medications, and Ph.D.s can’t. And yes, it’s possible to be both an M.D. and a Ph.D. In fact, some med schools offer programs in which you can achieve both simultaneously. 

You can also get a professional doctorate degree in a number of fields. For example, you might receive a doctorate of education, an  Ed.D . 

So, in a nutshell, both M.D.s and Ph.Ds can be referred to as doctors . If you’re looking for someone to treat what ails you physically, then you want at least an M.D. following their name. If you want to dig deep into a subject and get advice from someone who has done their own research and who likely knows the latest and greatest developments in a particular area, then you’re probably looking for a Ph.D. And if someone has both, even better—depending on your needs, it may be just what the doctor ordered.

Want more synonyms? Get Thesaurus.com’s sizzling synonyms right in your inbox! 

Commonly Confused

Trending Words

[ sal-m uh - guhn -dee ]

• Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

—- For more on the the use of Port-Nominal Abbreviations , see that page . —- For more on use of an Honorary Doctorate , see that page . How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

Here are the forms to use when addressing a person addressed as Dr. See the discussion below “How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name 1-2-3-4-5” for more information on who typically does use Dr. as part of their name and who does not.

—- Envelope or address block on letter or email to their office/place of work: ——– (Full Name), (Post-nominal abbreviation for doctorate held). ——– ( Name of office/place of work if  appropriate) ——– (Address)

—- Social/Personal envelope: ——– Dr. (Full Name) ——– (Address)

—- Salutation – for both official & social: ——– Dear Dr. (Surname):  How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”

How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name: 1-2-3-4-5

—- #1) Holders of doctorates who work in academia or research institutions are addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’ professionally and socially in a salutation or conversation. Thus, a Ph.D. professor at a college, a Ph.D. in biology doing scientific research, and a Ph.D. principal at an elementary school all use Dr. (Name) and everybody thinks it is normal.

—- NOTE: At some universities it is traditional to address faculty holding of academic doctorates as ‘Mr. (Name)’ or ‘Professor (Name)’ and not to address as ‘Dr. (Name)’. For those outside the academic community it is acceptable to follow the insider’s rule or to address holders of doctorates as ‘Dr. (Name)’ in writing or oral address.

—- #2) Protestant clergy with doctorates are addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’ in a salutation or conversation. I specify ‘Protestant’ here because not all clergy is. For example, neither priests – addressed in a salutation or conversation as Father [Name] – nor rabbis – addressed as Rabbi [Name] –  holding doctorates are ever addressed as Dr. [Name] . In a salutation or conversation they stick with Father[Name] and Rabbi [Name].

—- #3) Holders of doctorates who work outside academia or research don’t always prefer to be addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’. in a salutation or conversation. —- —- A) In the USA ‘Dr.’ may be used depending on the work environment and/or when the degree isn’t pertinent to the conversation. E.g., a Ph.D. in finance working at a bank or a Ph.D. in American history working in software development are not likely to insist on being addressed as ‘ Dr. (Name)’ . But always ask for their preference. Use of, or omitting, the honorific can be a sensitive issue to some individuals! —- —- B) And, outside the U.S.A. everyone holding a doctorate will want to be addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’ in every instance.

—- #4) In hospitals and healthcare environments historically there was a practice that only physicians (medical doctors, osteopaths, dentists, podiatrists, veterinarians, etc. ) are addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’. This was explained to be out of consideration for the patients who want to know who ‘the doctors’ are and who are nurses and allied healthcare professionals.

—- That made for some unhappy professionals who earned doctorates in hospital administration, pharmacy, physical therapy and nursing, etc. – who felt they too were properly addressed as ‘Dr. (Name)’ . It’s my understanding that today all the holders of doctorates are addressed as Dr. (Name) and hospitals (etc.) have figured out other ways to define which doctor is a physician, which is a physical therapist and which is a nurse anesthetist.

—- #5) All that said, ultimately how one is addressed by others is up to the individual and usually everyone goes along. For example, if you and I meet a woman who identifies herself as ‘Monsignor Alice’ … I think it is unlikely she’s a Roman Catholic Monsignor. And, it’s unusual she has only one name, like Pink, Rhianna, Sting, Cher, or Madonna. But we should directly address her in conversation as ‘Monsignor Alice,’ it’s nice to meet you …’ because that’s what she says her name is. How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

—- But, when she’s out of range, we will all be talking about her.

—- —- – Robert Hickey

Related Healthcare Links -V — — Chiropractor / Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine -V — — Dentist / Doctor of Dentistry -V — — Medical Doctor / Doctor of Medicine -V — — Military Physician / Armed Services -V — — Optometrist / Doctor of Optometry -V — — Osteopath / Doctor of Osteopathy -V — — Podiatrist / Doctor of Podiatry -V — — Veterinarian / Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

More Related Healthcare Links: -V — — Person holding a doctorate -V — — Pharmacist / Doctor of Pharmacy -V — — Psychologist -V — — Therapist

Related Links: —- —- —- Principal —- —- —- Headmaster —- —- —- President College University —- —- —- President of a School —- —- —- Chancellor —- —- —- Professor

When To Use Dr. (Name) and When To Use (Name), Ph.D.?

My daughter is receiving her Ph.D. and will be teaching. I would like to give her a name plate for her desk. Should it be ‘Dr. (Full Name)’ or ‘(Full Name), Ph.D. ‘? ——————- – AP

Dear AP,   How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

‘(Full Name), Ph.D.’ is the official form of her name. You will use it on the envelope, or in the address block of a letter, when you write to her with regard to her professional pursuits. This is the form the university will use when she is listed among the faculty. It is used by the degree holder, when specifying the exact degree is pertinent – like on business cards or in a list of academics.

‘Dr. (Full Name)’ is the social form of her name. You will use it when you write her name on a personal letter’s envelope, e.g., one sent to her home. This is the form everyone will use on the envelope when they send her a birthday or holiday card. It is rarely used by the degree holder since one does not correctly give oneself an honorific. The degree holder – in their signature or when introducing him or herself – just uses their name … no ‘Dr.’ It’s up to the other person to add the ‘Dr.’ E.g., I just introduce myself as ‘Robert Hickey’ – never ‘Mr. Robert Hickey.’

Sometimes you will observe a physician in a healthcare setting introducing him or herself as ‘Dr. (Name)’ – but there it is for the patient’s benefit to know they are the physician in a field of people wearing seemingly identical white coats!

‘Dr. (Surname)’ is the conversational form of her name. Use it both officially and socially in a letter’s salutation as well as in oral conversation.

So, for an office name plate use the official form of her name – (Full Name), Ph.D.

– Robert Hickey

Doctors present the official form of their name to the public:  (Full Name) (Pertinent post-nominals for the service offered).   The social form of their name does not include their degree: Dr. (Full Name).   In both official and social salutations and conversations patients use Dr. (Name).

If My Doctorate is in Music, am I ‘Dr.’?

I hold a DMA, Doctorate in Music, from a Boston university and am a Church Music Director. Please could you advise me as to whether it is acceptable for the church where I work to list me in the service bulletins as: ‘Dr. (First name) + (Last name) ‘? —————- – CJ

Dear CJ: How to Use a Doctorate with your Name It is correct to list yourself in the bulletin using the professional form of your name … (First name) + (Last name), DMA.    It specifies your academic credential in your professional domain.

Among protestant denominations many address their clergy with a doctorate orally and in a salutation as  Dr. (Surname).   If your church is one of those, and it is your preference is to be Dr. (Surnhttps://formsofaddress.info/wp-admin/post.php?post=13983&action=edit#ame), tell everyone that it is your preference to be addressed Dr. (Surname).

Usually academics and researchers who go by Dr. (Surname) professionally – use Dr. (Surname)  socially. But ultimately whether a particular Ph.D. holder is ‘Dr. (Name)’ socially … especially outside of healthcare, academia or research … is at the preference of the bearer. Some insist, some don’t care, others say they answer to anything they are called. Ultimately your name belongs to you and if you want to be Dr. (Surname), then it’s your right to request everyone address you that way.

– Robert Hickey   How to Use a Doctorate with your Name

May I Call Myself Dr. (Name)  if my Degree Is Not Related to the Service I Offer?

I have a Ph.D. and license in counseling. Recently I sent out an announcement for a yoga class I will be teaching. The state of Colorado says I should not teach yoga as   “Dr. (Name)”. How can I convince them I can? ——– – Kevin S., Ph.D., L.P.C., C.M.T., I.K.Y.T.A. ,  Counseling, Yoga Therapy, Integrative Health & Healing

Dear Dr. Kevin, How to Use a Doctorate with your Name

Your Ph.D. is in a field not related to the service you are offering.

A couple of typical practices I observe in the USA come to mind:

Professionals use with their name the degrees pertinent to their profession service. The degrees and certifications are provided for the benefit of the public so the public can quickly evaluate your credentials.

Here’s what I mean by pertinent . A pastor who would be the Reverend (Full Name)  & Pastor (Name) at church on Sundays, would not use the Reverend (Full Name) & Pastor (Name)  when teaching English Monday through Friday, at the local high school. That he or she is the Reverend  might be mentioned in a complete biography or introduction. It just isn’t part of his/her name at school.

So, I can see if you are using ‘Dr. (Name)’ when offering a class in yoga, and your doctorate is not directly to the service you are offering, say a doctorate physical therapy or kinesthetics …. it would be confusing to me … and the state officials must think it is misleading to the public.

– Robert Hickey How to Use a Doctorate with Your Name

Should I Use Dr. or Ph.D. on an Invitation?

If a person holds a Ph.D., should his or her name be ‘Dr. (name)’ a wedding invitation? Or ‘( Name), Ph.D.’ ?  Is this true for the father of the bride?  The groom?  Is the rule for names on wedding invitations and wedding envelopes different that the guidelines for social correspondence? ————– – Beverly Russell, Winchester, Virginia

Dear Ms. Russell: Wedding invitations and their envelopes are social correspondence. Post-nominal abbreviations ( Ph.D. is a post nominal abbreviation) aren’t used on social correspondence:

—- —- DON’T use Ph.D.

—- —- DO use Dr. (Name)

Another question that typically comes up is whether to use Doctor or Dr. (spelled out or abbreviated) on the invitation or on the mailing envelope?

The rule is to spell out everything and not to use abbreviations unless space is an issue.

But, Mr., Mrs., Dr., and Ms. (for which there is no spelled-out version) are typically used on invitations and when addressing invitations in even the most formal circles. I think ‘Doctor (Name)’ looks oh-so-highly precious, but I know some wedding planners who would wrestle me to the mat on that one.

When Should You Use the Forms on this Page?

You can use these forms of address for any mode of communication: addressing a letter, invitation, card or Email. (If there are differences between the official and social forms of address, I will have mentioned the different forms.)  The form noted in the salutation is the same form you say when you say their name in conversation or when you greet them. ___ What I don’t cover on this site are  many things I do cover in my book: all the rules of forms of address, about names, international titles, precedence, complimentary closes, details on invitations, place cards, all sorts of introductions , etc. I hope you’ll get a copy of the book if you’d like the further detail.

Not Finding Your Answer?

—- #1)    At right  on desktops , at the bottom of every page on tablets and phones , is a list of all the offices, officials & topics covered on the site.

—- #2)   If you don’t see the official you seek included or your question answered send me an e-mail . I am pretty fast at sending a reply: usually the next day or so  (unless I am traveling.)   Note: I don’t have mailing or Email addresses for any of the officials and I don’t keep track of offices that exist only in history books.

—- #3)   If I think your question is of interest to others, Sometimes I post the question  – but always change all the specifics.

— Robert Hickey 

Recommended Resources:    The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW)  and  Protocol and Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (PDI-POA)     For more information see the Protocol Resources page.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

Etiquette Articles

The world of Emily Post etiquette advice is at your fingertips. Please, search or browse our comprehensive online etiquette articles.

• Trending Topics
• Table Setting Guides
• Lizzie Post's Recipes for All Occasions
• Avoid Political Pitfalls
• Featured Articles
• General Tipping Guide
• Official Forms of Address
• Addressing a Former President of the United States
• Dining Etiquette
• Top 10 Must Know Table Manners
• Lipstick at the Table
• Texting at the Dinner Table
• Business Etiquette
• Tips on Preparing for a Job Interview
• Professional Email Etiquette for Work
• Beyond the Handshake: Hugs and the Social Kiss

Wedding Etiquette

• Wedding Planning Series
• Wedding Thank Yous
• Wedding Invitations
• Children's Etiquette
• Can You Teach a Toddler Etiquette? Yes!
• What to Do About Bullies
• The Golden Rule of Parenting
• Invitations & Correspondence
• Complete Guide to Writing Thank You Notes
• Writing Personal Letters
• Invitation Etiquette
• Image & Attire
• Attire Guide: Dress Codes from Casual to White Tie
• Five Tips for Looking Crisp and Keeping Cool in the Workplace
• Good Grooming and Wardrobe Care
• Everyday Etiquette
• Etiquette for Volunteering
• How to Choose Luggage
• Before You Travel: Acquaint Yourself with Your Destination
• Digital Manners
• Email Etiquette Dos & Don’ts
• Netiquette: The Rules of the Internet
• Smart Use of Smartphones and Tablets
• Hosts & Guests
• General Entertaining
• Celebration Parties
• Hosting a Baby Shower
• What to Say to Someone Who Is Grieving
• Manners Matter Even More in Hard Times
• How to Help When Someone is in the Hospital

Training & Services

Emily Post training and services are available for groups, businesses, and individuals. Choose from trainer training, seminars, live and pre-recorded webinars, self-paced eLearning courses, and consultation services to best meet your etiquette training needs. Every live session is customized for the client and built from our extensive menu of training topics.

Training Options

• Live Online Seminars
• Author Led Seminars

Online Courses

• Online Course: Dining Etiquette - CreativeLive
• Online Course: Manners at Work, The Ultimate Guide - Creative Live
• Online Course: Business Etiquette for Professionals

Trainer Training

• Business Train the Trainer
• Children's Train the Trainer
• Wedding Professionals Training

Training Topics

• Etiquette Defined/Why Etiquette?
• Problem Solving

Brand Partnership with Emily Post

• Speakers Bureau
• Brand Partnerships
• Spokesperson

Find the right Emily Post book, game, or learning tool for you. We have the perfect wedding, graduation, or housewarming gift for someone special in your life.

Best Sellers

Emily post's etiquette, the centennial edition, the etiquette advantage in business, 3rd edition personal skills for professional success, table manners for kids, the unwritten rules of golf, higher etiquette, our favorites, emily post’s wedding etiquette, 6th edition, emily’s magic words, digital stationery for texts, emily post's - host a bridesmaids' luncheon digital planner, awesome etiquette podcast.

The Awesome Etiquette podcast is a weekly Q&A show where hosts, (cousins, and co-presidents of the Emily Post Institute,) Lizzie Post and Dan Post Senning answer audience questions, tackle etiquette topics in detail and salute good etiquette witnessed by the Awesome Etiquette audience.

Listen on your favorite platform!

• Support the Show
• Episode 501 - Total Eclipse
• Episode 500 - Yes, 500
• Episode 499 - Etiquette vs. Protocol

The Emily Post Institute Inc. is a fifth generation family business that has been promoting etiquette based on consideration, respect and honesty since Emily Post wrote her first book ETIQUETTE in 1922. Today we offer a wide range of books, online resources, training programs for all ages and topics, a weekly podcast and a selection of greeting cards and paper products.

The Emily Post Institute

• Timeline History
• Definition of Etiquette - Consideration, Respect and Honesty
• Emily's First Novel
• Emily Post: Daughter of Bruce Price
• Emily Post: In The Garden

Get a signed copy of our latest book, Emily Post's Etiquette - The Centennial Edition , for yourself or to give as a gift, and support Vermont's independent bookstore Bridgeside Books.

Join our Substack newsletter for more from Emily Post.

Professional Title Etiquette: When to Use Your Dr. Title

Socially as well as professionally, medical doctors, dentists, and other professionals are addressed by, and introduced with, their titles. People who have earned a Ph.D. or any other academic, nonmedical doctoral degree have the choice of whether to use "Dr." both professionally and socially.  If, when meeting people with doctorates, you're unsure how to address them, "Dr." is always correct.  If they'd rather the title be dropped, they will let you know.

It's more common for women to use the title "Doctor" socially as well as professionally than in the past. When a married woman uses the title "Dr." (either medical or academic) socially, addressing social correspondence to the couple is a little trickier. If her husband is not a doctor, address letters to Dr. Sonia and Mr. Robert Harris. Her name comes first because her professional title "outranks" his social title. If her husband is also a doctor, the address is either The Drs. (Doctors) Harris or Drs. Sonia and Robert Harris (the order of the names doesn't matter).

The Reverend

In introductions and correspondence, many Protestant clergy are referred to as "The Reverend." While business correspondence is addressed to The Reverend James Norris, (D.D., if held), social correspondence is slightly different: The Reverend (Mr./Dr.) and Mrs. James Norris. In conversation, a clergyman or clergywoman is addressed as Dr./Mr./Mrs./Ms./Pastor/Rector/Reverend Norris.

Addressing a husband or wife who are both "Reverends" follows the same format as a husband and wife who are both doctors: The Reverends Norris or The Reverend Mrs./Ms. Patricia Norris and the Reverend Mr. James Norris. If either of the couple also has a doctorate degree, that person's name would go first: The Reverend Dr. James Norris and The Reverend Mrs./Ms. Patricia Norris.

Today "Esquire" is largely confined to business correspondence between attorneys and justices of the peace. An alternative is to write:

Mr. David Bowman

Attorney at Law

using two lines, no indent, and including the titles Mr. or Ms.

When "Esq." or "Esquire" is used, the name is never preceded by Mr., Ms., Mrs., or other titles such as Dr., and is written David Bowman, Esq. "Esquire" isn't used in introductions: "I'd like to introduce attorney David Bowman/Mr. David Bowman/David Bowman." It also isn't used for social correspondence, as when writing to a lawyer and his or her spouse or addressing a social invitation. Mr. and Mrs. David Bowman is the correct form.

Professional Designations

Professional designations such as CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or CLU (Certified Life Underwriter) are only used on business cards or business correspondence. They follow a person's name, and Mr. or Ms. isn't used: Martha Dawes, CPA; Phillip Olner, CLU. If a person has more than one designation, they're listed in the order received: Phillip Olner, CLU, CFP. Socially, use Mr., Ms., or Mrs. without the professional designation: Ms. Martha Dawes.

Other Titles

Every day we run into people who have an official title. The police officer at the desk is Sergeant Flynn; the head of the fire department is Chief Elmore; the club chef is Chef Rossi; the pilot on your plane is Captain Howe; and so forth. When on the job, such people are always addressed by their titles, just as they are when the matter at hand is related to their work. Socially, many don't use their titles, though they may. Sometimes a title sticks: A local judge, for example, who's been called by his title for a number of years, is usually addressed as "Judge" even after his retirement.

• Wedding Etiquette 101: Everything You Need to Know

Recommended Articles

• Official Forms of Address: United States Government
• Official Forms of Address: Religious Dignitaries
• View all articles

Emily Post's Etiquette, 19th Edition

Related articles, military titles, making introductions, announcing a new baby, traditional gendered courtesies.

• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

abbreviation or noun

Definition of phd, examples of phd in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'PhD.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

New Latin philosophiae doctor

1839, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near PhD

Cite this entry.

“PhD.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/PhD. Accessed 21 May. 2024.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

More commonly misspelled words, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), popular in wordplay, the words of the week - may 17, birds say the darndest things, a great big list of bread words, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 12 more bird names that sound like insults (and sometimes are), games & quizzes.

Should I Write Ph.D. or PhD? (Complete Guide)

As some of you are probably aware, the kind of English used on my side of the pond (England) is sometimes a bit different to the English used in the land of burgers and Trump.

Some words are spelt differently. But others just have a few bits of grammar difference.

Today, I want to look at the difference between Ph.D. and PhD. We’ll look at which one is correct, what it stands for, and why it’s a bit odd that it stands for that.

Should I Write Ph.D. Or PhD?

It is correct to write both Ph.D. and PhD. Which one is best to use depends on where you are in the world. In Great Britain, they tend to use Ph.D. In the United States of America, they prefer to use Ph.D.

What Does Ph.D. Or PhD Stand For?

Let’s try to understand what Ph.D. stands for.

It stands for two things. And it doesn’t stand for one or the other, it stands for both of them at the same time.

The first thing is “Doctor of Philosophy” and the second is “Philosophiae Doctor”. As the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed, “Philosophiae” is not English. It’s in Latin.

This goes back to the days when the only people who needed university were high thinkers and philosophers.

Why Americans And Brits Disagree On Ph.D. Or PhD

This could help us to understand why Brits prefer PhD but Americans prefer Ph.D.

Perhaps, according to the Brits, it stands for “Philosophiae Doctor”. But, according to the Americans, it stands for “Doctor or Philosophy”.

After all, the Brits do have a habit of trying to sound smarter. But, whichever one you use, people on both sides should know what you’re saying.

Why Ph.D. Or PhD Is A Bit Strange

Now, I want you all to understand how strange it is to call anyone with a PhD a “doctor of Philosophy”.

Let’s say someone gets a Ph.D. in history.

Well, first of all, is she really a doctor? If you break your leg, she’s not the first person you’ll go to for help.

But not only that, she studied history, not philosophy. So, she’s called a doctor of philosophy despite not being a doctor and not having studied history.

Yet, for some reason, we still call her a “Doctor of philosophy”.

Where Does The Word “Doctor” Come From?

When most of us hear the word “Doctor”, we think of someone who makes us better when we’re sick. And there may be a few of you who think of a skinny man who travels through time in a Police Box.

But originally, “Doctor” was Latin for teacher. Through time, you were able to get a “PhD” in more things than just philosophy.

And, if you wanted to become what we think of as a “Doctor”, you would need to have a “doctorate” in medicine.

Technically, “Doctor” would be the wrong word . But it’s become so common, it’s managed to “common” itself enough to become the right word.

How To Get A Ph.D. Or PhD

Now I’m afraid you can’t just walk into a university and walk out with a PhD. There are steps you need to take before you get there.

First of all, you will need to do a Bachelor’s degree. This is the degree you do when you first enter university. There are some jobs where a bachelors is enough.

Let’s be honest here, most of the time you spend doing a bachelor is just having fun.

If you want to, you can then progress onto doing a master’s degree. This is a bit more high level, and you tend to need to work for it.

Once you have your bachelors you may decide to go on to get a PhD. If you go for this, you will be officially able to call yourself an intellectual.

What Kind Of Word Is Ph.D. Or PhD?

There are three ideas for what kind of word Ph.D. is. I’ll tell you all of them and let you make up your own mind.

A PhD is something you have. You work towards it, and once you’ve handed in all of your papers, you get a PhD.

A PhD is also something you are. If you have a PhD, you might say “I’m a PhD.”

It can also be a title, similar to “Sir” or “OBE”.

If your name is James Smith, and you are PhD, your name and title could be, Mr James Smith PhD.

How To Address Someone With A Ph.D. Or PhD

Talking of this man called James Smith, there are several ways to address and introduce him.

• If you have a Ph.D., you are allowed to call yourself “Doctor” even if you don’t have a PhD in medicine. Therefore, if he wants, James could be called Dr Smith.
• Maybe he doesn’t want to be confused for a medical doctor but still wants to show off his Ph.D. In that case, we can call him James Smith PhD.
• But, like many with a Ph.D., he may not want to mention it unless it’s important. If he’s one of these people, we should just call him Mr Smith.

Ph.D. Or PhD Vs Doctorate

Asking “What’s the difference between a PhD and a doctorate?” is a bit like asking what the difference is between an apple and a fruit.

Just like an apple is a kind of fruit, a PhD is a kind of doctorate. However, it’s not the only doctorate there is.

Here are some forms of doctorate you may want to know.

Doctor of philosophy. But now also means Doctor of something there isn’t a doctorate for.

Doctorate in business.

Doctorate in engineering.

Doctorate in education

Doctor of medicine.

If you were wondering whether you should write “PhD” or “Ph.D.”, you can write either, both are grammatically correct, and both are very common terms that mean the same thing.

The only slight difference is that “PhD” is more common in England and “Ph.D.” is more common in America. This is perhaps because the British believe it stands for “philosophiae doctor” but Americans see it as “Doctor of Philosophy”.

But, no matter whether you use “PhD” or “Ph.D.”, to have one, you neither need to be a doctor nor study philosophy. All you need to do is stay in university for long enough to be able to get yourself a PhD. Then, you can become a PhD, and your title will be PhD.

You may also like: DSc Degree vs. PhD Degree – What’s the Difference? 9 Correct Ways to Write PhD Title on a Business Card

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here .

• “At University” Or “In University” – Easy Preposition Guide
• James’s or James’? (Correct Possessive Form)
• Is It “Doctor’s Appointment” or “Doctors appointment”?
• Universities or University’s or Universities’? (Easy Guide)

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of Ph.D. noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

• acquire/get/lack experience/training/(an) education
• receive/provide somebody with training
• develop/design/plan a curriculum/course/program/syllabus
• give/go to/attend a class/lesson/lecture/seminar
• hold/run/conduct a class/seminar/workshop
• moderate/lead/facilitate a discussion
• sign up for/take a course/classes/lessons
• go to/start preschool/kindergarten/nursery school
• be in the first, second, etc. grade (at school)
• study/take/drop history/chemistry/German, etc.
• finish/drop out of/quit school
• graduate from high school/college
• be the victim/target of bullying/teasing
• skip/cut/ ( informal ) ditch class/school
• cheat on an exam/a test
• get/be given a detention (for doing something)
• be expelled from/be suspended from school
• do your homework/a project on something
• work on/write/do/submit an essay/a dissertation/a thesis/an assignment/a paper
• finish/complete your dissertation/thesis/studies
• hand in/turn in your homework/essay/assignment/paper
• study/prepare/review/ ( informal ) cram for a test/an exam
• take/ ( formal ) sit for a test/an exam
• grade homework/a test
• do well on/ ( informal ) ace a test/an exam
• pass/fail/ ( informal ) flunk a test/an exam/a class/a course/a subject
• apply to/get into/go to/start college
• leave/graduate from college (with a degree in computer science)/law school
• study for/work towards a law degree/a degree in physics
• major/minor in biology/philosophy
• earn/receive/be awarded/get/have/hold a master's degree/a bachelor's degree/a Ph.D. in economics

Want to learn more?

Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

What is a PhD?

• Types of Doctorates
• A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest globally recognized postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award.
• PhDs are awarded to candidates who undertake original and extensive research in a particular field of study.
• Full time PhD programmes typically last three to four years, whilst part time PhD programmes typically last six to seven years.
• A PhD can lead to an academia teaching role or a career in research. A PhD can also equip you with skills suitable for a wide range of jobs unrelated to your research topic or academia.

Definition of a PhD – A Doctor of Philosophy (commonly abbreviated to PhD , Ph.D or a DPhil ) is a university research degree awarded from across a broad range of academic disciplines; in most countries, it is a terminal degree, i.e. the highest academic degree possible.

PhDs differ from undergraduate and master’s degrees in that PhDs are entirely research-based rather than involving taught modules (although doctoral training centres (DTCs) offer programmes that start with a year of lecture-based teaching to help develop your research skills prior to starting your project).

In most English-speaking countries, those that complete a PhD use the title “Doctor” (typically abbreviated to Dr) in front of their names and are referred to as such within academic and/or research settings. Those that work in fields outside of academia may decide not to use the formal doctor title but use post-nominal letters (e.g. John Smith PhD); it’s unusual though for someone to use both the Doctor title and post-nominal letters in their name.

PhD vs Doctorate

A PhD and a professional doctorate are both research-based terminal degrees.

However, where a PhD focuses on original research mostly around theoretical concepts, a professional doctorate focuses on examining existing knowledge to solve real-life, practical problems.

While there is much crossover between the two, a PhD is generally better suited for an individual to wants to advance the knowledge and understanding in their field, and a professional doctorate degree is better suited to a working professional who wants to better be able to apply knowledge and understanding to their field.

What Are the Entry Requirements for a PhD?

To be accepted on to a PhD programme, students usually need to hold at least a high ( 2:1 and above ) undergraduate degree that is related to the field of research that they want to pursue. A PhD candidate may also be expected to hold a Master’s degree , however, this does not mean you must have one, as it is still possible to enrol into a PhD without a Master’s .

Self-funded courses may sometimes be more relaxed in relation to entry requirements. It may be possible to be accepted onto a self-funded PhD programme with lower grades, though these students typically demonstrate their suitability for the role through professional work experience.

Whilst a distance learning project is possible , most PhD candidates will carry out their research over at least three years based at their university, with regular contact with two academic supervisors (primary and secondary). This is particularly the case for lab-based projects, however, some PhD projects require spending time on-site away from university (e.g. at a specialist research lab or at a collaborating institution abroad).

How Long Does a PhD Take?

Typically, full-time PhDs last 3-4 years and part-time PhDs last 6-7 years. However, at the discretion of the university, the thesis writing-up period can be extended by up to four years.

Although most doctoral programmes start in September or October, they are generally much more flexible than taught-courses and can start at any time of the year.

How Much Does a PhD Cost?

Tuition fees for UK and EU students vary between £3,000 and £6,000 per year, with the average tuition fee of £4,712 per year for 2023/24 programmes.

Tuition fees increase considerably for international students, varying between £16,000 to £25,000 per year, with an average tuition fee of £19,600 per year .

Nonetheless, most students will secure PhD funding in the form of studentships, scholarships and bursaries to help pay for these fees. These funding opportunities can either be partial, which cover tuition fees only, or full, which cover both tuition fees and living expenses.

UK national students can also apply for Doctoral Loans from Student Finance England if they are unable to secure funding.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

What Does a PhD Involve?

To be awarded a PhD, a doctoral student is required to produce a substantial body of work that adds new knowledge to their chosen field.

A PhD programme will typically involve four key stages:

Stage 1: Literature Review

The first year of a PhD involves attending regular meetings with your supervisors and carrying out a search on previously published work in your subject area. This search will be used to produce a literature review which should set the context of the project by explaining the foundation of what is currently known within the field of research, what recent developments have occurred, and where the gaps in knowledge are. In most cases, this will be an extension of your research proposal should you have produced one as part of your application. The literature review should conclude by outlining the overarching aims and objectives of the research project. This stage of setting achievable goals which are original and contribute to the field of research is an essential first step in a successful PhD.

The supervisor is the main point of contact through the duration of a PhD – but remember: they are there to mentor, not to teach, or do it for you . It will be your responsibility to plan, execute and monitor your own work as well as to identify gaps in your own knowledge and address them.

Stage 2: Research

The second year (and prehapse some of your third year) is when you work on your research. Having identified novel research questions from your review of the literature, this is where you collect your data to help answer these questions. How you do this will depend on the nature of your doctoral research: for example, you may design and run experiments in a lab alongside other PhD students or visit excavation sites in remote regions of the world. You should check in regularly with your supervisors to update them and run any ideas or issues past them.

Have the structure and chapters of your thesis in mind as you develop and tackle your research questions. Working with a view of publishing your work will be very valuable later on.

Stage 3: Write up of Thesis

The next key stage of a PhD is writing a doctoral thesis , which typically takes from anywhere between three months to one year. A thesis is a substantial body of work that describes the work and outcomes of the research over the previous two to three years. It should tell a detailed story of the PhD project – focusing on:

• The motivations for the research questions identified from the literature review.
• The methodologies used, results obtained, and a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the findings.
• A detailed discussion of the key findings with an emphasis on the original contributions made to your field of research and how this has been impactful.

There is no universal rule for the length of a PhD thesis, but general guidelines set the word count between 80,000 to 100,000 words.

For your thesis to be successful, it needs to adequately defend your argument and provide a unique or increased insight into your field that was not previously available.

Stage 4: Attending the Viva

A viva voce , most commonly referred to as just a ‘ viva ‘, is an interview-style examination where the PhD student is required to engage in a critical appraisal of their work and defend their thesis against at least two examiners. The examiners will ask questions to check the PhD student has an in-depth understanding of the ideas and theories proposed in their thesis, and whether they have developed the research skills that would be expected of them.

The viva is one of the final steps in achieving a PhD, and typically lasts at least two hours, but this duration can vary depending on the examiners, the university and the PhD project itself.

Once you have done the viva – you’re on the home stretch. You will typically be asked to make some amendments to your thesis based on the examiner’s feedback. You are then ready to submit your final thesis for either:

• PhD – If you pass the requirements you will be awarded a PhD degree (most common outcome),
• MPhil – If you failed to meet requirements for a PhD, you may be downgraded to an MPhil degree (uncommon outcome),
• Fail – No award is given, typically for cases of plagiarism (extremely uncommon outcome).

What Is It Like to Undertake a PhD?

We’re often asked what it is like to undertake a PhD study. Unfortunately, this isn’t a simple answer to this question as every research project is different.

To help give insight into the life of a PhD student, we’ve interviewed PhD students at various stages of their programmes and put together a series of PhD Student Interviews . Check out the link to find out what a PhD is like and what advice they have to offer you.

What Are the Benefits of A PhD?

A PhD is the highest globally recognised postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award. The degree, which is awarded to candidates who demonstrate original and independent research in a particular field of study, is not only invaluable in itself, but sets you up with invaluable skills and traits.

Career Opportunities

First, a PhD prepares you for a career in academia if you wish to continue in this area. This takes form as a career in the Higher Education sector, typically as a lecturer working their way to becoming a professor leading research on the subject you’ve studied and trained in.

Second, a PhD also enables the opportunity for landing a job in a research & development role outside of the academic environment. Examples of this include laboratory work for a private or third sector company, a governmental role and research for commercial and industrial applications.

Transferable Skills

Finally, in possessing a PhD degree, you can show to employers that you have vital skills that make you an asset to any company. Three examples of the transferable skills that you gain through a PhD are effective communication, time management, and report writing.

• Communication – presenting your work in written and oral forms using journal papers and podium presentations, shows your ability to share complex ideas effectively and to those with less background knowledge than you. Communication is key in the professional environment, regardless of the job.
• Time management – The ability to prioritise and organise tasks is a tremendous asset in the professional industry. A PhD holder can use their qualification to demonstrate that they are able to manage their time, arrange and follow a plan, and stick to deadlines.
• Report writing – Condensing three years of work into a thesis demonstrates your ability to filter through massive amounts of information, identify the key points, and get these points across to the reader. The ability to ‘cut out the waffle’ or ‘get to the point’ is a huge asset in the professional industry.

Aside from the above, you also get to refer to yourself as a Doctor and add fancy initials after your name!

What Can I Do After a PhD?

One of the most desirable postdoctoral fields is working within independent Research and Development (R&D) labs and new emerging companies. Both industries, especially R&D labs, have dedicated groups of PhD graduates who lead research activities, design new products and take part in crucial strategic meetings. Not only is this a stimulating line of work, but the average salaries in R&D labs and emerging start-ups are lucrative. In comparison, an undergraduate with five years of experience within their given field will, on average, likely earn less than a new PhD graduate taking on a R&D position.

It’s a common misunderstanding that PhDs only opens the door for an academic career such as university lecturers and training providers. Although obtaining a PhD opens these doors, the opportunities extend far beyond educational roles. In fact, recent data from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates only 23% of PhD graduates take a position in educational roles . This low percentage is primarily because PhD graduates have a wide range of skills that make them suitable for a broad spectrum of roles. This is being seen first hand by the increasing number of PhD graduates who are entering alternative roles such as research, writing, law and investment banking.

How Do I Find a PhD?

We appreciate that finding a PhD programme to undertake can be a relatively daunting process. According to Higher Education Student Statistics , over 22,000 PhDs were awarded in 2016/17 within the United Kingdom alone. Clearly there are a huge number of PhD programmes available. This can sometimes be confusing for prospective doctorates, particularly when different programmes are advertised in different places. Often, it is difficult to know where to look or where to even start. We’ve put together a list of useful sources to find the latest PhD programmes:

• A great place to start is with our comprehensive and up-to-date database of available PhD positions .
• Assuming you are still at university, speak to an existing PhD supervisor within your department.
• Attend as many postgraduate open days as you can. Whilst there, speak to current PhD students and career advisors to get an awareness of what PhDs are on offer.
• Visit the postgraduate section of university websites and the PhD Research Council section of the UKRI website.

Browse PhDs Now

Join thousands of students.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

Chicago teen who started college at 10 earns doctorate degree at 17

Dorothy Jean Tillman II’s participation in Arizona State University’s May 6 commencement was the latest step on a higher-education journey the Chicago teen started when she took her first college course at age 10.

In between came associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

When Tillman successfully defended her dissertation in December, she became the youngest person — at age 17 — to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State,  associate professor Leslie Manson told ABC’s “Good Morning America”  for a story Monday.

“It’s a wonderful celebration, and we hope ... that Dorothy Jean inspires more students,” Manson said. “But this is still something so rare and unique.”

Tillman, called “Dorothy Jeanius” by family and friends, is the granddaughter of former Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman.

When most students are just learning to navigate middle school, her mother enrolled Tillman in classes through the College of Lake County in northern Illinois, where she majored in psychology and completed her associate’s degree in 2016, according to her biography.

Tillman earned a bachelor’s in humanities from New York’s Excelsior College in 2018. About two years later, she earned her master’s of science from Unity College in Maine before being accepted in 2021 into Arizona State’s Behavioral Health Management Program.

Most of her classwork was done remotely and online. Tillman did attend her  Arizona State commencement  in person and addressed the graduating class during the ceremony.

Tillman told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she credits her grandmother and trusting in her mother’s guidance for her educational pursuits and successes.

“Everything that we were doing didn’t seem abnormal to me or out of the ordinary until it started getting all of the attention,” said Tillman, now 18.

There have been sacrifices, though.

“I didn’t have the everyday school things like homecoming dances or spirit weeks or just school pictures and things like that ... that kind of create unity with my peers,” she said.

She has found time to dance and do choreography. Tillman also is founder and chief executive of the Dorothyjeanius STEAM Leadership Institute. The program includes summer camps designed to help young people in the arts and STEM subjects.

She said her plans include public speaking engagements and fundraising for the camp, which Tillman said she hopes to franchise one day.

Tillman is motivated and has innovative ideas, said Manson, adding, “And truly, I think what is inspiring is that she embodies that meaning of being a true leader.”

Jimalita Tillman said she is most impressed with her daughter’s ability to show herself and her successes with grace, but to also understand when to “put her foot down” when choosing between social outings and her education.

For more from NBC BLK, sign up for our weekly newsletter .

The Associated Press

• open search

From the latest big breakthrough to the most influential and inspiring figures on campus to Pitt in the community, Pittwire is your official source for what’s happening now.

• Health and Wellness
• Technology and Science
• Arts and Humanities
• Community Impact
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Innovation and Research
• Our City/Our Campus
• Pitt Magazine
• Features & Articles
• Accolades & Honors
• Ones to Watch
• Announcements and Updates
• Life at Pitt
• Arts & Sciences
• Computing & Information
• Dental Medicine
• Engineering
• General Studies
• Health & Rehabilitation
• Honors College
• Public & Intl Affairs
• Public Health
• Social Work
• COVID-19 Response
• Sustainability
• Graduate and professional students
• Humanities Center

Subscribe to Pittwire Today

9 phd students were named 2024 humanities engage fellows.

Nine PhD students at the University of Pittsburgh have received research funding from the Pitt’s Humanities Engage project, which is committed to broadening and deepening the intellectual and professional development of all PhD candidates.

Six of the recipients pitched their own Summer Immersive Fellowships, which offer the chance to gain experiences with host organizations in collaborative, mission-focused project work drawing on their high-level skills as researchers and writers. They will be co-mentored by the host organization supervisors, a cohort of faculty mentors and the senior director for graduate advising and engagement for the humanities.

This year’s Summer Immersive Fellowship recipients are:

• Juwon Adenuga (Music)
• Monica Daniels (History of Art and Architecture)
• Luis Delgado (Music)
• Frederick Miller (Theatre Arts)
• Senjuti Mukherjee (Film and Media Studies)
• Ernest Owusu-Poku (Music)

The two-term Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship supports Humanities dissertation projects that involve substantial professional development and will likely result in dissertation formats other than the conventional proto-monograph. The fellowship carries a competitive stipend, a tuition scholarship and professional development funds for its duration.

The Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship awardees are:

• Rahul Kumar (Film and Media Studies)
• Apala Kundu (English)
• Warner Sabio (Music)

Pitt is updating its Campus Master Plan

Employees, benefits open enrollment is may 1-15, pitt is launching an office of sustainability in the health sciences.

Max the cat receives honorary doctorate in 'litter-ature’ from Vermont university

The tabby has been a staple on campus at vermont state university for about five years after he began leaving his home to explore the school and get plenty of attention from its students.

Max the campus cat? Try Dr. Max the Cat, thank you very much.

Vermont State University Castleton's 2024 graduating class had the honor of sharing their commencement celebrations over the weekend with none other than Max, a tabby cat who has become something of a local celebrity during his time at the university.

Max, recognized by the college by his formal name Max Dow, has become something of a fixture on campus since moving into his nearby home with his mom, Ashley Dow, about five years ago.

A former feral kitten of a nearby town, Max moved onto the very same street that leads to the campus's main entrance. The curious kitty soon learned that, while school can be a slog for some, college can be lots of fun for felines.

When Max was about a year old, he began exploring his neighborhood, Dow told USA TODAY. One day, he went missing and his family began the search. That's when they first found him on campus and, soon, they began hearing from the students.

"They just love him," Dow told USA TODAY. "I get students giving me welfare checks on him throughout the day."

Max the cat's campus life

For Max, paying a visit to the Castleton campus means getting lots of attention, taking rides on backpacks, scaling the greenhouse, posing for endless selfies, basking anywhere he pleases and even leading tour groups.

"He's been on the dean's desk, he made himself at home on the dean's desk," Dow said. "He's been in the coffee house, he walked right up to the head of the graduate program and she tracked me down and asked if I was Max's mom."

Max even attempts to visit the campus during breaks but returns disappointed after discovering no students are there, said Dow. Once, he got confused and stopped visiting after classes resumed, prompting students who thought he had disappeared to make a memorial for him, complete with framed photos and candles.

"The college has called a couple of times asking if he's OK and I say, 'No he's fine, he's just fat and lazy,'" Dow joked. "We brought him up a couple of times and ... told him don't forget the people up there because they miss you."

Vermont State University students help keep an eye on Max

Dow said that students at the campus often look out for Max.

Ever since an attack by a feral cat left Max injured, Dow posted signs around campus asking students to text, call or bring him home if they see him hanging outside after 5 p.m. The students do just that, on top of providing periodic updates throughout the day.

In one case, a since-graduated student returned to town and stopped by Dow's business to ask how Max was. In another, a post on social media led students to believe Max had been injured, prompting a full-blown search that included not only students but the campus police.

"(People) ask 'Are you Max's mom?' And I'm like, 'How did you know that?'" said Dow, who has come to accept her new moniker as mom to the most famous cat in town.

A doctor of litter-ature

The college couldn't put Max on the payroll (likely thanks to his lack of valid ID and tax documents), so they've offered him the special honor instead.  

"Max the Cat has been an affectionate member of the Castleton family for years," the university shared in posts on Instagram and Facebook.

"With a resounding purr of approval from the faculty, the Board of Trustees of the Vermont State Cat-leges has bestowed upon Max Dow the prestigious title of Doctor of Litter-ature, complete with all the catnip perks, scratching post privileges, and litter box responsibilities that come with it," the university said.

According to Dow, who was floored and amused when the school contacted her about the degree, some people in her life didn't believe the turn of events at first. A coworker she told thought she was a little "crazy," she said, until Max started appearing on the news.

"She said 'Ashley, I'm sorry, I thought you were crazy but now I see it's true,'" Dow said. "Everyone loves it except people who don't get it because they haven't met Max."

Max − that's Dr. Max to you − did not get to walk on the stage but did make an appearance on campus this weekend, said Dow, and will likely start popping up in graduation photos all across social media. His official diploma will be sent to his home via mail.

"I'm so super happy he makes everyone so happy, he's a great cat and it's awesome," Dow said. "(The students) were talking about how during finals they saw him and he made them less stressed and I get it ... I'm glad it makes people happy and I'm glad to share."

Engineering student works to improve water infrastructure

Tolulope odunola is driven to make an impact in developing communities.

After earning her bachelor's degree in civil engineering at a premier university in Nigeria, Tolulope Odunola became fascinated by the world of hydrology and water systems and set off to continue her education in environmental engineering.

She came to the University of Cincinnati for her master's degree, and the experience left such an impact she stayed for her doctorate, working under the guidance of Patrick Ray, associate professor of environmental engineering.

Odunola was named Graduate Student Engineer of the Month by the College of Engineering and Applied Science. 

Why did you choose UC?

My journey to the University of Cincinnati was quite an interesting one. I grew up in Nigeria and after earning a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, I was convinced that I needed both the exposure and improved skillset that an overseas graduate education would provide. The University of Cincinnati was not on my list initially, but upon recommendation, I browsed through the school's website and faculty profiles in my program of choice. 

After I arrived at UC, I was captivated by the beautiful architecture on campus and the diversity of nationalities represented here.

Tolulope Odunola, Graduate Student Engineer of the Month

Tolulope Odunola

My quick survey of the university revealed that UC held much promise for my development academically and careerwise, so I did not delay in submitting my application for a master's degree in environmental engineering .

I applied to UC a few days before the deadline in 2019 and I am so glad I made the right choice. After I arrived, I was captivated by the beautiful architecture on campus and the diversity of nationalities represented here. 

Why did you choose your field of study?

I am pursuing my doctorate in environmental engineering after obtaining my master's degree in the same program in 2022. I have a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, and the little story of how I ended up in the field of engineering begins when I was in high school. Back then, I enjoyed science and mathematics, but I also loved fine arts and technical drawing, so I wanted a discipline that combined both innovative creativity and computation prowess. I explored the field of environmental design first and considered architecture, but I eventually decided on civil engineering, in part due to the broader scope of the field. 

As an undergraduate student, I learned about the environmental aspects of civil engineering. With time, water and environmental engineering began to stand out to me amongst other areas of specialization. I observed that there was still much room to contribute to the practice of environmental engineering in Nigeria, as well as to improve the standards, management, and sustainability practices of water resources and waste management systems. By the final year of my undergraduate program, I decided I would go onto graduate school to learn more about environmental engineering and gain skills in the area. This is how I ended up at UC in the Water Systems Analysis group under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Ray. 

Briefly describe your research work. What problems do you hope to solve?

Under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Ray, Tolulope Odunola has presented her research at several conferences, including the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

My research is focused on improving the economic evaluation of water resource projects under changing climate conditions.

My goal is to make significant contributions to decision science. The design, planning and operation of water projects like irrigation dams and water supply networks is affected by climate change because the amount of water that will be available in the future for such projects is uncertain.

While climate science has advanced in recent years, there is still room for improvement to standard economic evaluation using climate vulnerability assessment methodologies.

My research aims to provide decision makers in water resources engineering with robust analysis frameworks, tools, and decision metrics for confident investment decisions under climate uncertainty. I am also exploring spatial and distributional equity considerations in economic evaluation under climate change.

Odunola is advised by Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, Patrick Ray.

Research at UC has been positively demanding and rewarding. I am thankful for my adviser, Patrick Ray , who introduced me to the world of development projects planning, climate vulnerability assessment and decision science.

I have enjoyed working on practical projects, learning new skills, and collaborating with multidisciplinary project teams. For instance, I was funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation for three years which introduced me to the work culture in a typical development agency.

I have learned to present my research to a non-technical audience and to understand and be considerate of different perspectives of water engineering systems modeling under climate change. I have had to think like an economist, an urban planner and an agronomist while building my hydrological models and approaching scenario analysis under climate change, for example.

I would say this is one of the blessings of graduate school — it eliminates myopic approaches to anything in life, research included. 

What are some of the most impactful experiences during your time at UC?

I have been privileged to attend and present at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting several times as well as the American Society of Civil Engineers' EWRI Congress. These conferences inspired and encouraged me to work harder on my research and make significant contributions to both science and industry. There was also the additional advantage of visiting and touring new cities during the conferences. 

Traveling for work and presentation sessions at the Millennium Challenge Corporation office in Washington, D.C., had a huge impact on me. I once toured D.C. with my family as a teenager. To return almost a decade later for work as a graduate student was amazing, to say the least. As you can expect, I took a selfie with a caption of my thoughts on the busy morning streets of D.C. and shared it with my family back home in Nigeria. 

What are a few of your accomplishments of which you are most proud?

Winning the Outstanding Student Presentation Award for the Hydrology Section at the AGU Fall Meeting in 2023, and the 2024 People's Choice Award at the University of Cincinnati's three-minute thesis competition are definitely at the top of my list.

I also have been a two-time recipient of the American Water Works Association Ohio Chapter Graduate Scholarship. Recently, I was awarded the Graduate Student Government Research Fellowship.

I am deeply grateful for the honor that accompanies these feats, but equally important and impactful was the process leading up to these awards during which I developed my research dissemination, writing, and presentation skills. 

When do you expect to graduate? What are your plans after earning your degree?

I aim to graduate within the next year and my plan is the same as it was in the fall of 2019 when I arrived at UC: to make an impact in human communities, one sustainable water resource project at a time. I look forward to being employed in the water industry as a water resource analyst and planner, and specifically I hope to work in an international development or foreign aid agency to provide developing countries with water infrastructure that is robust to uncertainties such as climate change. 

Do you have any other hobbies or involvements you'd like to share?

Outside of research, I enjoy reading historical fiction novels, creative writing, and exploring the beauty of nature. UC has also afforded me many leadership opportunities.

First, with the Nigerian Students' Association where I served as Secretary and three-time Electoral Committee Chairperson. Also, I have served for two tenures as the Vice President of my department's Graduate Student Association.

Plus, I had growth, leadership, and ministry opportunities by serving with Every Nation here at UC. I will always be grateful for the relationships I have made as a graduate student at UC; my church family, research group colleagues, Nigerian friends who made Cincinnati a home away from home, and several others too numerous to mention!

Featured image at top:  Tolulope Odunola is studying ways to improve the infrastructure that provides clean drinking water. He was named UC's Graduate Student Engineer of the Month by the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Photo/Pixabay

Interested in becoming an engineering Bearcat?

Check out the graduate programs offered by the College of Engineering and Applied Science. 

• Student Experience
• College of Engineering and Applied Science
• Chemical and Environmental Engineering
• Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management

Related Stories

Engineering students showcase capstone projects at ceas expo.

May 6, 2022

Graduating engineering undergraduates from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Engineering and Applied Science gathered for the inaugural CEAS Expo in April to showcase their senior capstone projects to more than 500 attendees, including faculty, staff, alumni and industry representatives. The event, organized by the college and CEAS Tribunal student government, was held in downtown Cincinnati at the Duke Energy Convention Center.

Engineering students present senior capstone projects digitally

April 24, 2020

Engineering students present at third annual Expo

April 24, 2024

This spring, senior students at the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science came together to present their final capstone projects at the third annual CEAS Expo. College faculty, staff, alumni and industry professionals attended the event to witness the innovation that is created at CEAS.

MIT Technology Review

• Newsletters

GPT-4o’s Chinese token-training data is polluted by spam and porn websites

The problem, which is likely due to inadequate data cleaning, could lead to hallucinations, poor performance, and misuse.

• Zeyi Yang archive page

Soon after OpenAI released GPT-4o on Monday, May 13, some Chinese speakers started to notice that something seemed off about this newest version of the chatbot: the tokens it uses to parse text were full of spam and porn phrases.

On May 14, Tianle Cai, a PhD student at Princeton University studying inference efficiency in large language models like those that power such chatbots, accessed GPT-4o’s public token library and pulled a list of the 100 longest Chinese tokens the model uses to parse and compress Chinese prompts. 

Humans read in words, but LLMs read in tokens, which are distinct units in a sentence that have consistent and significant meanings. Besides dictionary words, they also include suffixes, common expressions, names, and more. The more tokens a model encodes, the faster the model can “read” a sentence and the less computing power it consumes, thus making the response cheaper.

Of the 100 results, only three of them are common enough to be used in everyday conversations; everything else consisted of words and expressions used specifically in the contexts of either gambling or pornography. The longest token, lasting 10.5 Chinese characters, literally means “_free Japanese porn video to watch.” Oops.

“This is sort of ridiculous,” Cai wrote, and he posted the list of tokens on GitHub .

OpenAI did not respond to questions sent by MIT Technology Review prior to publication. GPT-4o is supposed to be better than its predecessors at handling multi-language tasks. In particular, the advances are achieved through a new tokenization tool that does a better job compressing texts in non-English languages.

But at least when it comes to the Chinese language, the new tokenizer used by GPT-4o has introduced a disproportionate number of meaningless phrases. Experts say that’s likely due to insufficient data cleaning and filtering before the tokenizer was trained. 

Because these tokens are not actual commonly spoken words or phrases, the chatbot can fail to grasp their meanings. Researchers have been able to leverage that and trick GPT-4o into hallucinating answers or even circumventing the safety guardrails OpenAI had put in place.

Why non-English tokens matter

The easiest way for a model to process text is character by character, but that’s obviously more time consuming and laborious than recognizing that a certain string of characters—like “c-r-y-p-t-o-c-u-r-r-e-n-c-y”—always means the same thing . These series of characters are encoded as “tokens” the model can use to process prompts. Including more and longer tokens usually means the LLMs are more efficient and affordable for users—who are often billed per token.

When OpenAI released GPT-4o on May 13, it also released a new tokenizer to replace the one it used in previous versions, GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. The new tokenizer especially adds support for non-English languages, according to OpenAI’s website .

The new tokenizer has 200,000 tokens in total, and about 25% are in non-English languages , says Deedy Das, an AI investor at Menlo Ventures. He used language filters to count the number of tokens in different languages, and the top languages, besides English, are Russian, Arabic, and Vietnamese.

“So the tokenizer’s main impact, in my opinion, is you get the cost down in these languages, not that the quality in these languages goes dramatically up,” Das says. When an LLM has better and longer tokens in non-English languages, it can analyze the prompts faster and charge users less for the same answer. With the new tokenizer, “you’re looking at almost four times cost reduction,” he says.

Das, who also speaks Hindi and Bengali, took a look at the longest tokens in those languages. The tokens reflect discussions happening in those languages, so they include words like “Narendra” or “Pakistan,” but common English terms like “Prime Minister,” “university,” and “international ” also come up frequently. They also don’t exhibit the issues surrounding the Chinese tokens.

That likely reflects the training data in those languages, Das says: “My working theory is the websites in Hindi and Bengali are very rudimentary. It’s like [mostly] news articles. So I would expect this to be the case. There are not many spam bots and porn websites trying to happen in these languages. It’s mostly going to be in English.”

Polluted data and a lack of cleaning

However, things are drastically different in Chinese. According to multiple researchers who have looked into the new library of tokens used for GPT-4o, the longest tokens in Chinese are almost exclusively spam words used in pornography, gambling, and scamming contexts. Even shorter tokens, like three-character-long Chinese words, reflect those topics to a significant degree.

“The problem is clear: the corpus used to train [the tokenizer] is not clean. The English tokens seem fine, but the Chinese ones are not,” says Cai from Princeton University. It is not rare for a language model to crawl spam when collecting training data, but usually there will be significant effort taken to clean up the data before it’s used. “It’s possible that they didn’t do proper data clearing when it comes to Chinese,” he says.

The content of these Chinese tokens could suggest that they have been polluted by a specific phenomenon: websites hijacking unrelated content in Chinese or other languages to boost spam messages. 

These messages are often advertisements for pornography videos and gambling websites. They could be real businesses or merely scams. And the language is inserted into content farm websites or sometimes legitimate websites so they can be indexed by search engines, circumvent the spam filters, and come up in random searches. For example, Google indexed one search result page on a US National Institutes of Health website , which lists a porn site in Chinese. The same site name also appeared in at least five Chinese tokens in GPT-4o. 

Chinese users have reported that these spam sites appeared frequently in unrelated Google search results this year, including in comments made to Google Search’s support community. It’s likely that these websites also found their way into OpenAI’s training database for GPT-4o’s new tokenizer. 

The same issue didn’t exist with the previous-generation tokenizer and Chinese tokens used for GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, says Zhengyang Geng, a PhD student in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. There, the longest Chinese tokens are common terms like “life cycles” or “auto-generation.” 

Das, who worked on the Google Search team for three years, says the prevalence of spam content is a known problem and isn’t that hard to fix. “Every spam problem has a solution. And you don’t need to cover everything in one technique,” he says. Even simple solutions like requesting an automatic translation of the content when detecting certain keywords could “get you 60% of the way there,” he adds.

But OpenAI likely didn’t clean the Chinese data set or the tokens before the release of GPT-4o, Das says:  “At the end of the day, I just don’t think they did the work in this case.”

It’s unclear whether any other languages are affected. One X user reported that a similar prevalence of porn and gambling content in Korean tokens.

The tokens can be used to jailbreak

Users have also found that these tokens can be used to break the LLM, either getting it to spew out completely unrelated answers or, in rare cases, to generate answers that are not allowed under OpenAI’s safety standards.

Geng of Carnegie Mellon University asked GPT-4o to translate some of the long Chinese tokens into English. The model then proceeded to translate words that were never included in the prompts, a typical result of LLM hallucinations.

He also succeeded in using the same tokens to “jailbreak” GPT-4o—that is, to get the model to generate things it shouldn’t. “It’s pretty easy to use these [rarely used] tokens to induce undefined behaviors from the models,” Geng says. “I did some personal red-teaming experiments … The simplest example is asking it to make a bomb. In a normal condition, it would decline it, but if you first use these rare words to jailbreak it, then it will start following your orders. Once it starts to follow your orders, you can ask it all kinds of questions.”

In his tests, which Geng chooses not to share with the public, he says he can see GPT-4o generating the answers line by line. But when it almost reaches the end, another safety mechanism kicks in, detects unsafe content, and blocks it from being shown to the user.

The phenomenon is not unusual in LLMs, says Sander Land, a machine-learning engineer at Cohere, a Canadian AI company. Land and his colleague Max Bartolo recently drafted a paper on how to detect the unusual tokens that can be used to cause models to glitch. One of the most famous examples was “_SolidGoldMagikarp,” a Reddit username that was found to get ChatGPT to generate unrelated, weird, and unsafe answers.

The problem lies in the fact that sometimes the tokenizer and the actual LLM are trained on different data sets, and what was prevalent in the tokenizer data set is not in the LLM data set for whatever reason. The result is that while the tokenizer picks up certain words that it sees frequently, the model is not sufficiently trained on them and never fully understands what these “under-trained” tokens mean. In the _SolidGoldMagikarp case, the username was likely included in the tokenizer training data but not in the actual GPT training data, leaving GPT at a loss about what to do with the token. “And if it has to say something … it gets kind of a random signal and can do really strange things,” Land says.

And different models could glitch differently in this situation. “Like, Llama 3 always gives back empty space but sometimes then talks about the empty space as if there was something there. With other models, I think Gemini, when you give it one of these tokens, it provides a beautiful essay about El Niño, and [the question] didn’t have anything to do with El Niño,” says Land.

To solve this problem, the data set used for training the tokenizer should well represent the data set for the LLM, he says, so there won’t be mismatches between them. If the actual model has gone through safety filters to clean out porn or spam content, the same filters should be applied to the tokenizer data. In reality, this is sometimes hard to do because training LLMs takes months and involves constant improvement, with spam content being filtered out, while token training is usually done at an early stage and may not involve the same level of filtering. 

While experts agree it’s not too difficult to solve the issue, it could get complicated as the result gets looped into multi-step intra-model processes, or when the polluted tokens and models get inherited in future iterations. For example, it’s not possible to publicly test GPT-4o’s video and audio functions yet, and it’s unclear whether they suffer from the same glitches that can be caused by these Chinese tokens.

Artificial intelligence

Sam altman says helpful agents are poised to become ai’s killer function.

Open AI’s CEO says we won’t need new hardware or lots more training data to get there.

• James O'Donnell archive page

Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment?

Researchers are using generative AI and other techniques to teach robots new skills—including tasks they could perform in homes.

• Melissa Heikkilä archive page

What’s next for generative video

OpenAI's Sora has raised the bar for AI moviemaking. Here are four things to bear in mind as we wrap our heads around what's coming.

• Will Douglas Heaven archive page

An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary

Synthesia's new technology is impressive but raises big questions about a world where we increasingly can’t tell what’s real.

Stay connected

Get the latest updates from mit technology review.

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at [email protected] with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.