Pre-nominal letters are atitle which is placedbefore the name of a person as distinct from apost-nominal title which is placedafter the name. Examples of pre-nominal titles, for instance professional titles includeDoctor,Captain,EUR ING (European Engineer), Ir. (ingenieur), Ts. (professional technologist), Ar. (architect), Sr. (surveyor), Br. (certifiedbuilder), Gs. (geologist), Mons. (monsignore), Cllr (Councillor), CA (Indianchartered accountant)[1] andProfessor.
These distinctive titles replace the standard honorifics used in polite address, indicating gender and, for women, marital status; the common English forms areMr.,Ms.,Mrs. andMiss. These honorifics are not normally considered as titles.
In someContinental European countries, allacademic degrees were traditionally pre-nominal.
Pre-nominal academic degrees in German-speaking countries include:Dipl.-Ing. (Master's degree in engineering),Dipl.-Kfm. (master's degree in management),Dipl.-Phys. (master's degree in physics),Dipl.-Inf. orDipl.-Inform. (master's degree in computer science),Dr.-Ing. (Germandoctorate in engineering),Dr. med. (Germandoctorate in Medicine) andMag. (Austrian master's degree (Magister) in all disciplines except engineering).
Pursuant to theBologna process, most of these pre-nominal degrees will be replaced by post-nominal bachelor's and master's degrees; but people who held academic degrees before the Bologna process may continue to use the pre-nominal academic degrees. In contexts where pre-nominal academic letters are used, such degrees may be placed prenominally for consistency (for example, "MMathPhil Marcos Cramer").[2]
In the Czech Republic, all academic degrees are widely used before the name:Bc. – for Bachelor,Mgr. – for Master,Ing. – for Engineer, "lesser" doctors such asMUDr. (doctor of medicine),MDDr. (dentist doctor),JUDr. (doctor of Law),RNDr. (doctor of Natural Sciences),PhDr. (doctor of Philosophy),ThDr. (doctor of Theology). Before them appear titles given to university teachers (prof. for Professor anddoc. for "docent" = Associated Professor). These degrees could be combined, with the highest degree appearing first, e. g.prof. JUDr. Ing. Bc. The titles of the same rank are separated by "et", e. g.Mgr. et Mgr.[3][4] Army titles includegen. for General,plk. for Colonel; Church titles include P. (pater) and R.D. (Reverendissimus Dominus).
In Finland, abbreviated academic titles can appear before or after the name (for example, FM Matti Meikäläinen or Matti Meikäläinen, FM). In the United States a person may at their discretion use "Dr." as a pre-nominal or their doctoral degree's initials as a post-nominal, but rarely at the same time. It would also be very unusual to see a professional license (such as for an engineer) used as a pre-nominal in any form.
In Poland, abbreviated academic titles appear as pre-nominal letters:inż. for holders of inżynier degree (Polish equivalent for aBachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), orBachelor of Applied Science (BASc)) awarded by apolytechnical university or faculty;mgr for holders of aMagister (Polish equivalent for amaster's degree);mgr inż. for holders of aMagister awarded by apolytechnical university or faculty;dr for holders of aDoktorat (Polish Doctorate);dr inż. for holders of aDoktorat awarded by apolytechnical university or faculty;dr hab. for holders of aDoktorat and ahabilitacja (Polish post-doctoralhabilitation qualification);dr hab. inż. for holders of aDoktorat and ahabilitacja awarded by apolytechnical university or faculty.
InPortugal and the otherPortuguese-speaking countries, it is usual for a person with a university degree to be generally referred by the abbreviated pre-nominal titledr. (doutor), independently of the real degree that he or she holds. The main exceptions to this are the holders of degrees in engineering and architecture, who are referred respectively by the pre-nominal abbreviated titleseng. (engenheiro) andarq. (arquiteto).
In the UK, those with both aknighthood and rank in thearmed forces (orclergy, oracademic titles) put theSir after the other title;[5] for example:Lieutenant General SirWilliam Leishman;[6]His Eminence SirNorman Cardinal Gilroy,KBE;[7]Professor SirRichard Peto.[8]