"a" before professor?

Question

In a content page entry, I have written the following:

"Prof. Dr. Jim Dator
is professor and director of the Hawaii Research Center for
Futures Studies, Department of Political Science, University of
Hawai?i at Manoa, USA."

Should "a" be placed between "is" and "professor"? Is there a cast-iron rule for this?

Thanks in advance,
James

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

"Prof. Dr. Jim Dator
You have said he is a professor, so why repeat it?

is director of the Hawaii Research Center for
Futures Studies, Department of Political Science, University of
Hawai?i at Manoa, USA."

Hijameswilhelm · Answer

Good point, but other entries, such as the one below, don't allow me to avoid the problem.

"Dr. Dr. Jörg Tremmel is junior professor"

Thanks for the tip, though.

Terryxpress · Answer

Prof. Dr. Jörg Tremmel is a junior professor.
(But then, wouldn't he be Associate Professor?)

Prof. Dr. Jörg Tremmel is junior Professor, Department of History, Stanford University.

Cool Breeze · Answer

An article is always needed when a title is the subject of the sentence:

The king wasn't present.

After some verbs, such as be, make, elect and appoint, the article is usually omitted if only one person can have the position in question at a time:

They made him king.
Mr Brown was appointed prime minister.

But: He is an MP.
There are more than 600 others in the British parliament.

English is flexible in this regard, though, and with words like "professor" an article may be used but it may also be omitted.

He is [the] professor of English Philology.
This implies that there is only one at the university in question.

He is a professor of English Philology at Helsinki University. (There are two professors. That's why the article is needed.)

He is a professor of English Philology.
For me, this says what he does for a living but gives me no idea as to where he works. It's just like saying: He is a dentist.

CB

Terryxpress · Answer

...and

UT Knoxville | Department of English - Reading Series
www.creativewriting.utk.edu › ... › http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http://web.utk.edu/~english/academics&rct=j&sa=X&ei=xE1wT5uFLIW98gPQgIXADQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCMQ6QUoADAA&q=%22He+is+professor+of+English%22&usg=AFQjCNGI-gc_P5VA9iRz3aGc9-G-xM6dtA› http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http://www.creativewriting.utk.edu/index.shtml&rct=j&sa=X&ei=xE1wT5uFLIW98gPQgIXADQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCQQ6QUoATAA&q=%22He+is+professor+of+English%22&usg=AFQjCNHb32kAd4kQvHzkVzeDAm2MSzzCAgHe is Professor of English and Writer-in-Residence at Pellissippi State College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was recently voted Student Choice Teacher of ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Lal

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_LalHe is professor of English at the Jadavpur University, Calcutta. He also translates from Bengali to English, is a theatre critic for The Telegraph (Calcutta) and ...
APCS Board of Directors Information

www.apcsweb.org/bio.htmlIn the United States he is Professor of English at the State University of New York (Albany), where he is also a member of the board of SUNY Press, and editor of ...
Presenters - River Teeth Nonfiction Conference

www.riverteethjournal.com/conference/presentersHe is Professor of English at St. Lawrence University, where he teaches courses in nonfiction writing and later American literature, and an Honored Visiting ...
<Fellows 12_13>

www.yale.edu/ism/fellows/Fellows12_13.htmlHe is professor of English and Religious Studies at Michigan State University, where he served as director of the Program in American Studies. Stowe taught for ...

The first six on the list.

"a" before professor?

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