The "Doctor" is In

Joseph Epstein ( David Kanigan)

Mr. Joseph Epstein, with only a B.A. from Chicago to his name, stirred a hornets' nest by advising Jill Biden to drop the "PhD" and "Doctor" honorifics while she's First Lady. The blowback was instantaneous---worse than any tweetstorm from the current President when anyone insulted or even mildly criticized him.

Of course, that prompted your humble blogger to read Mr. Epstein's short essay. The first paragraph alone likely was sufficient to prompt an avalanche of negative letters:

Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the “Dr.” before your name? “Dr. Jill Biden ” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title “Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.” A wise man once said that no one should call himself “Dr.” unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.

Mr. Epstein's offense was compounded when he dissed the education and social science establishments' credentialism:

In contemporary universities, in the social sciences and humanities, calling oneself Dr. is thought bush league.

I've always been impressed by Jill Biden, not only because of her talents but also her character and strength. IMHO, she doesn't need to put the letters in front or at the end of her name, but has the right to do so, and Joseph Epstein has the right to voice his opinion as well. Putting the future First Lady aside, what about his other points?

To me the piece is written in a light hearted tone. The general theme is that the proliferation of educational credentials and the appending of them to one’s name is off putting to a lot of people. I agree.

If one is well-known because of something that’s got nothing to do with one's degree, the credentials are displayed only on rare occasions. Both Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Cosby have earned PhDs in education but don’t insist on being called “doctor.”

There’s a guy at my church whom I like a lot but for years signed all his emails with “PhD”. The degree was in hard science and he needed it to establish credibility in the engineering community, but for church? C’mon, man!

It’s one's right to put the letters after one's name, especially to get a job or establish credibility when giving a speech, and Mr. Epstein seems only to be suggesting, not demanding, that one use judgment about when to do so.

Paul Gigot, the WSJ editorial page editor writes:

By the way, the Journal editorial page’s longtime style is to use “Dr.” only when referring to medical doctors. Henry Kissinger gets a “Mr.” Lynne Cheney, wife of Dick Cheney, is Mrs. Cheney despite her Ph.D.

For the record I don't think that Joseph Epstein wrote a strong essay. It was unnecessary for him to spend as much time on his personal success at Northwestern; it's more effective to mention his own story in a throwaway line then talk about other successful people who didn't go on to graduate school. He made a mistake by using "kiddo", because many people did not know the diminutive is a favorite of Joe Biden's and took it as an offense to Jill. Finally, inveighing against the spread of honorary degrees has nothing to do with Mrs. Biden, who earned her degree.

Display your educational achievements if it helps you accomplish your goals; in general, it's better to omit them because in America no one likes an elitist (though many of us are, in our heart of hearts).