Sure, I definitely didn't refer to the obvious titles, affiliations, etc. in an automatic signature -- I agree that eliminating everything, especially in a professional setting, would go unnecessarily in the opposite direction! :-)

 

By "folks who include their full CV" I meant that I literally see people who, after name, title and affiliation, start listing a bunch of honors, prizes or the like, reaching a comic 5- to 10-line automatic signature! As a personal standard, that is what I find *way* too odd smile I mentioned that in jest as it came to mind in reference to "Poincon de Geneve" and "Winding System" on the face of the watch (though the context is of course different).


For instance, my own signature, which I haven't changed since I became full prof. in 2016, includes 'Name, PhD' on first line, then below is my title (which is 'Professor of Mathematics,' so prof. obviously goes in too), current affiliation, email and professional webpage. That's considered quite standard, and perhaps necessary when you communicate with a broad range of folks or organizations in a professional setting.

Honestly, I'm not particularly concerned that someone (older than 5) may get offended by my signature because they didn't get the same degrees -- I never meant that either! smile [Incidentally, while I got my PhD at age 26, my first PhD student graduated at the AMAZING age of 23 (!) with a great thesis in partition theory that opened up a totally new area....so even PhDs are not all born equal! ;-)))]

What I never do is signing off as 'Prof. Name' above the automatic signature (in lieu of my name only), including when I write to students, secretaries, etc.. I know colleagues who do that and I'm not questioning their choice, but just my name (first and last, where necessary) again sounds more balanced. 

Hope this answers. This could actually make for an interesting topic of discussion (perhaps on TimeOut rather than Roger Dubuis! smile) since I bet that the answers would be VERY different depending on country, profession, maybe even social setting, age, etc.! smile Cheers.

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