It is Time to Reject Gendered Titles for Retired Professionals; Tracking Institutions and Individuals Using the Term “Emerit”

Why Use Emerit (instead of the gendered Emeritus and Emerita)?

• Freyd, J.J. (2021). Professor Emerit: It is Time to Reject Gendered Titles for Retired Faculty [Editorial]. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 22, 479-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2021.1965962

• Also see Jennifer Freyd’s resource page Professor Emerit (Not a Typo).

• October 2024 Observation: We have made some progress changing the gendered language in academia as documented below but this is not just about academia: currently there are other professions that use the gendered “Emeritus/Emerit” labels including the judiciary.

University of Oregon

• The Case for Professors Emerit by Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 2 February 2022.

• U of Oregon Senate Approves ‘Professor Emerit’ Title by Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 28 February 2022.

• US21/22-09 Non-Gendered Title for Retired Faculty Approved February 23, 2022

• US21/22-11 Professor Emerit Title for Retired Faculty Approved February 23, 2022

• Faculty: Rights and Privileges of Faculty Retired With Merit

• Department of Psychology Emerits Page

Oregon State University

• Emerit/Emerita/Emeritus status, August 2024

Emory University

• Newly approved ‘professor emerit’ title fosters inclusivity for retired faculty, June 29, 2023

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

• Emerit Status, June 2023

Central Washington University

• Faculty Code 2023

Dartmouth

• Retirement Handbook, September 2024

Claremont Graduate University

• CGU “Emerit” Policies, July 2024

  • https://cgu.policystat.com/policy/15888292/latest

  • https://cgu.policystat.com/policy/15888299/latest

  • https://cgu.policystat.com/policy/15888331/latest

  • https://cgu.policystat.com/policy/15888306/latest

  • https://www.cgu.edu/about/strategic-plan/

• All school/division/unit sites listing their Faculty have been updated. The respective section reads, EMERIT FACULTY (e.g., https://www.cgu.edu/school/ssspe/faculty/).

• MarCom is also using the term emerit whenever they write about emerit faculty (for example)

• At the October 10, 2024 meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to amend and include the term “emerit trustee” in the Board of Trustees Bylaws.

Examples of Individual’s Using the Title “Emerit Professor” Even Without Institutional Policy

• Jennifer Freyd, University of Oregon (Adopted in 2021 prior to getting the UO to make policy change in 2022)

• Estelle Freedman, Stanford

• Roy Hopkins, Saint Mary’s College

• Janet Hyde, University of Wisconsin

• Roberta Millstein, UC Davis (and Millstein explains her title)

• Meg Bond, U Mass Lowell