The United Kingdom, Ireland and other English speaking countries

See also: Lecturer and List of academic ranks

In the United Kingdom, like most Commonwealth countries (excluding Canada) and Ireland traditionally, a professor held either an established chair or a personal chair. An established chair is established by the university to meet their needs for academic leadership and standing in a particular area or discipline and the post is filled from a shortlist of applicants; only a suitably qualified person will be appointed. A personal chair is awarded specifically to an individual in recognition of their high levels of achievements and standing in their particular area or discipline. In most universities, professorships are reserved for only the most senior academic staff, and other academics are generally known as 'lecturers', 'senior lecturers' and 'readers' (in some Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand, the title 'associate professor' can be used instead of 'reader'^[5]). In some countries, senior lecturers are generally paid the same as readers, but the latter is awarded primarily for research excellence, and traditionally carries higher prestige. A few UK universities have recently begun using the Australian terminology, with both "Senior Lecturers" and "Readers" now being called "associate professors." Traditionally, heads of departments and other senior academic leadership roles within a university were undertaken by professors.^[6] The University of Western Australia has recently changed the terminology, with "lecturers" now being called "assistant professors", "senior lecturers" now being called "associate professors", "associate professors" now being called "professors", and "professors" now being called "Winthrop Professors".^[7]

During the 1990s, however, the University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction, enabling their holders to be termed professors or readers while holding academic posts at the level of lecturer. This results in a two-tier professoriate, with statutory professors - or named chairs - having higher status than the relatively recently created category of titular professors. Similar hierarchies among the professoriate exist in a small number of other UK universities (e.g. the University of Manchester has 5 categories of professors: A, B, C, D and E, and the University of Birmingham has introduced a similar form of categorisation.) The University of Exeter and University of Warwick have adopted the antipodean style of 'associate professor' in lieu of 'reader'. The varied practices these changes have brought about has meant that academic ranks in the United Kingdom and in Australia are no longer quite as consistent as they once were. The same trend to move towards the North American system is also observed in the former British colony of Hong Kong. Academic ranks there are now becoming more consistent again, with The University of Hong Kong, the oldest university in the territory, having switched to the North American system.

In general the title of 'professor' is reserved for full professors; lecturers and readers are properly addressed by their academic qualification (Dr for a PhD DPhil etc. and Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms otherwise). In New Zealand and Singapore associate professors are by courtesy addressed as "Professor". In official functions, however, associate professors are addressed as Dr or associate professors and not professors. As in the USA, the title of 'professor emeritus' may be awarded to a retired or former professor, who may well retain formal or informal links with the institution where the chair was formerly held. In The United Kingdom it is only in recent decades that academic staff moved on from a doctorate to a professorial chair and it is still common for the doctorate to be not the determinant in a number of institutions.

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