That's *Doctor* Albright to you, Mr. Fielding...

Rohit Khare (rohit@uci.edu)
Tue, 5 Oct 1999 14:18:56 -0700


This was last Sunday's bits, but for the record, I'm glad to note
that if you're Really Important, the Gray Lady will give you a choice
:-)

RK

>Doctor's Orders

>The next time Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright is mentioned
>in these pages, she will be Dr. Albright.

>In fact, she has been doctor for 23 years, and secretary only two.
>But in The Times, she was a Mrs. (recently updated to Ms.), until
>she learned during a visit to the newspaper last week that holders
>of doctorates can opt for "Dr."

>"I worked hard for it," said Dr. Albright, who earned her
>doctorate at Columbia University.
>She wondered whether the change might make her appear insecure, but
>when asked again, she said, "I don't see why it shouldn't be
>Doctor."

> Those who use the title include the likes of Dr. Faustus, who came
>to no good, and Dr. Jekyll, who took care to shed the honorific when
>he changed to Mr. Hyde.

>One of Dr. Albright's predecessors, Henry A. Kissinger was
>invariably referred to as Dr.
>except by The Times, which took him at his word that he preferred Mr.

>Apart from medical doctors, Americans generally dispense with the
>title. But in a country where recent Presidents have styled
>themselves Jimmy and Bill, a Doctor may simply be a healthy antidote.