Acknowledging honorary academic certification

Dear Editor,

This point has been made by many over time, including yours truly but bears emphasis once again. Anyone with an honorary doctorate does not have the right to and should not use Dr. in front of his / her name or encourage others to do so or affirm its usage. That is and will always be an insult to those who have toiled and sacrificed to earn their doctorates as well as a display of academic dishonesty and a watering down of that hard earned title. In fact, no college or university offers the usage of Dr. in front of the names of anyone whom they so honour and many such institutions, if not all, advise as to its actual usage. Those who have been/are accorded honorary doctorates, at the most, can use “’Name’, PhD (Hon.)” and not, “Dr. ‘Name’, PhD”, and let it be publicly known that this is how it should be for all who want to acknowledge their honour. 

Sincerely,

Annan Boodram