AP Style Academic Titles

AP Style guidelines state that formal academic titles such as dean, chancellor, chairman, etc., should be capitalized when they precede a name. They should appear lowercase elsewhere.

For example,

  • I have a meeting with Dean of Student Activities Michael Jones on Monday.
  • Chancellor Mary Sue Coleman gave the invocation today.

-but-

  • Steve Jones is a professor at the local university.
  • Mary Weathers serves as a dean at the local university.

When you have modifiers such as “department” in “department Chairman Steve Jones” they should be lowercase.

See also AP Style titles, AP Style Professor.

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