<p>Garland, I agree it’s odd in the midwest where I’m located now to address a professor (PhD) as doctor, but it does happen – actually sometimes I get introduced that way at non-academic events. Sometimes suck-up students will address me as doctor, but I know what they’re trying to do!</p>
<p>I also have to confess that when I took my first academic appointment, which was at a university in the south, I was still ABD, and therefore being addressed as “doctor” by students and staff was an embarrassing reminder that I’d damn well better finish my dissertation. When I did in fact finish it up in January of my first year, I felt that I’d finally earned the title (at least at that university).</p>