Random anecdote and Mr. Hoare (yep not a Dr.) has always been one of my computing heroes.

Mr. Hoare did a talk back during my undergrad and for some reason despite totally checked out of school I attended, and it is one of my formative experiences. AFAICR it was about proving program correctness.

After it finished during the Q&A segment, one student asked him about his opinions about the famous Brooks essay No Silver Bullet and Mr. Hoare's answer was... total confusion. Apparently he had not heard of the concept at all! It could be a lost in translation thing but I don't think so since I remember understanding the phrase "silver bullet" which did not make any sense to me. And now Mr. Hoare and Dr. Brooks are two of my all time computing heroes.

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EdNutting a day ago | parent [-]

"Sir", not "Mr." if you're going to be pedantic about titles ;)

Edit: Oh and he has multiple honorary doctorates (at least 6!), so would be just as much "Dr." too!

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ziyao_w a day ago | parent | next [-]

Lol you are totally right! ;-)

I am normally a casual guy but for a giant being a bit more formal (pun intended) seems appropriate. Or maybe I am a nerd through and through :-)

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tialaramex a day ago | parent | prev [-]

It is not usual to call people with an honorary doctorate "Doctor" except in the context of the awarding institution. Most likely the awarding institutions will have actually specified that the recipient should not give anybody the false impression and I can't imagine Tony is the type to do otherwise.

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robotresearcher a day ago | parent [-]

His title at Oxford was 'Professor', and he was addressed as 'Tony'.

He made incoming DPhil (PhD) students a cup of tea individually in his office at the Computing Laboratory. It was a small group, but still I appreciated this personal touch.

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tialaramex 18 hours ago | parent [-]

I never met Tony, but I liked his work. I'm not much of a one for tea, but I don't think either of my PhD supervisors ever bought me a drink - I didn't finish (got cancer, I'm fine now†, some cancers are very curable, but frankly I was struggling anyway so it was a good excuse to quit) and I'm sure it's traditional to buy something a bit harder than a cup of tea if you pass, but I didn't get that far.

Anyway my point here was just a PSA that honorary degrees "don't count". If somebody only has an honorary doctorate but insists on being called "Doctor" they're an asshole. In fact, even outside University I know a lot of MDs and PhDs and in most contexts if they insist on the title "Doctor" they're an asshole even though they're entitled.

† Well not fine, I'm old but I think that's an inevitable side effect of surviving so the alternative was worse.

	▲	EdNutting 18 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		There's having An honorary degree... and then there's having 6 of them plus numerous other awards, and all the achievements to back them up :) Regardless, I've met people with only honorary doctorates, and it's a mixed bag when it comes to preferred titles. Often, though, the ones that really care, soon acquire a 'superior' title anyway, so it ends up becoming a moot point.
	▲	robotresearcher 13 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		You’re right. And ‘Professor’ comes and goes with the job, independent of degrees held.