The Etiquette of 'Dr': Can Honorary Recipients Use the Title?

Style guides, university statutes and the recipients themselves all handle this differently. What the conventions say, and why the careful ones avoid the title in professional contexts.

The practice of awarding honorary degrees reaches back to the medieval universities of Europe. As institutions such as Bologna, Paris and Oxford formalised their degree structures in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they also developed the habit of granting the insignia of a degree without requiring the candidate to complete the usual course of study — a gesture of respect rather than an academic judgement.

For the public, the practical takeaway is consistency. A legitimate honorary degree is awarded by an accredited institution, announced with reasons, free of charge to the recipient, and clearly labelled as honorary. Any offer that reverses those conditions — a fee, a vague awarding body, an implied professional qualification — belongs to the counterfeit market rather than to this centuries-old tradition.

What separates a genuine honorary award from its counterfeit imitations is the absence of a transaction. Reputable institutions do not sell honorary degrees; candidates are proposed by faculties or special committees, approved by governing bodies, and announced publicly with reasons. The moment a title can be bought — however the invoice is dressed up as a donation or an administration fee — the honour becomes a commodity and the awarding body forfeits its credibility.

The etiquette around titles is deliberately careful. Most universities ask honorary recipients to describe the award as honorary in every professional context, and many style guides discourage the use of Doctor on the basis of an honoris causa award alone. Recipients who respect the distinction enhance both their own reputation and the institution’s; those who exploit the ambiguity do lasting damage to both.

The tradition has survived eight centuries precisely because institutions keep the boundary between honour and qualification clearly marked. Respecting that boundary is what keeps the ceremony meaningful.