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University of Wisconsin–Madison

Search results for “titles of people”

titles of people

in general, capitalize titles only when they are formal titles that appear directly before a name: Chancellor Jane Doe, Professor John Doe; but the chancellor, the professor; do not confuse titles with occupation descriptions: movie star Bette Davis, astronaut John Glenn; capitalize titles that precede names and refer to more than one person with the same title: Professors Jane Doe and John Smith; see also CMS 8.19–8.33 (especially CMS 8.28 about academic titles); see also academic titles

academic titles

Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, president, chancellor, professor emeritus, and chair when they precede a name: Chancellor John Doe, Professor Jane Doe, Dean John Smith; but John Doe, chancellor; John Smith, dean; or Jane Doe, professor. Lowercase modifiers: music professor Jane Doe, department chair Jane Doe, or Jane Doe, professor of music. Capitalize formal titles of named professorships on all references: Jane Doe has been named the Bascom Professor of Art; Jane Doe, Bascom Professor of Art, received the award; Jane Doe, Bascom Professor Emerita of Art, gave the lecture. Named/endowed professorships, deanships, and the like should be listed before other titles in signature lines and biographies. See also titles of people.

titles of works

see CMS 8.156–8.201 and follow the guidelines below, which include specific CMS references; when preparing copy for news releases or Inside UW–Madison, refer to the Associated Press Stylebook

italicize (and use initial caps) for these titles

  • albums: 8.197
  • annual reports: 8.186
  • art exhibits: 8.201
  • art pieces/art works: 8.198
  • blogs (blog names versus individual blog posts): 8.192
  • books: 8.168
  • brochures: 8.186
  • cartoons (printed): 8.200
  • CDs: 8.197
  • choreographed dance works
  • comic strips/comics series: 8.200
  • concerts
  • dance works with titles
  • documentaries (films): 8.189
  • drawings: 8.198
  • DVDs: 8.197
  • epic/long poems (vs. short poems): 8.181
  • films: 8.189
  • long musical compositions: 8.195
  • magazines: 8.171
  • movies: 8.189
  • newsletters
  • newspapers: 8.170

online versions of any of these; add the URL if helpful

  • oratorios: 8.194
  • operas: 8.194
  • paintings: 8.198
  • pamphlets: 8.186
  • periodicals: 8.168
  • photographs (individual images): 8.198
  • plays: 8.183
  • podcast series: 8.189
  • poems (epic/long): 8.181
  • published works
  • radio series (not one-time programs or individual episodes): 8.189
  • reports: 8.186
  • statues: 8.198
  • symphonies and other long instrumental compositions: 8.195
  • television series (not one-time programs or individual episodes): 8.189
  • tone poems: 8.194
  • video games: 8.190

use roman type, initial caps, and quotation marks for these titles

  • blog posts (individual blog posts versus blog names): 8.192
  • chapters (book chapters and parts): 8.177
  • clickable buttons on a website
  • dissertations: 8.188
  • essays: 8.177
  • fables: 8.185
  • fairy tales: 8.185
  • folktales: 8.185
  • lectures (individual lectures, not lecture series): 8.87
  • magazine articles: 8.177
  • manuscripts: 8.188
  • newspaper articles: 8.177
  • nursery rhymes: 8.185
  • podcast episodes or one-time programs (not continuing series): 8.189

online versions of any of these; add the URL if helpful

  • poems (short versus epic/long): 8.181
  • presentations
  • prom themes
  • radio episodes or one-time programs (not continuing series): 8.189
  • short musical compositions: 8.194
  • short poems (vs. epic/long poems): 8.181
  • short stories: 8.177
  • songs: 8.194
  • speeches: 8.87
  • television episodes or one-time programs (not continuing series): 8.189
  • theses: 8.188
  • unpublished works: 8.188
  • YouTube videos
  • websites’ titled sections, pages, special features: 8.191

use roman type, most likely capitalized, with no quotation marks, for these titles

  • artworks of antiquity: 8.198
  • awards (middle initials are acceptable if they’re named after people): 8.83
  • book series and editions: 8.176
  • campaigns
  • catalogs
  • classes: 8.86
  • conferences
  • courses: 8.86
  • exhibitions and large-scale fairs (versus art exhibits): 8.201
  • film series (an event series, not the films themselves)
  • forms: 8.187
  • forums
  • games (board, card, children’s, active are typically lowercase; brand-named are uppercase): 8.190
  • large-scale fairs and exhibitions (versus art exhibits): 8.201
  • lecture series (not individual lectures): 8.87
  • magazine columns and departments: 8.177
  • newspaper columns and departments: 8.177

online versions of any of these; add the URL if helpful

  • panel discussions
  • prizes (middle initials are acceptable if they’re named after people): 8.83
  • seminar-type programs
  • symposia
  • websites: 8.191
  • workshops
  • works of antiquity: 8.198

On Wisconsin and Badger Insider magazines

  • On Wisconsin magazine
  • Badger Insider magazine
  • department titles are roman, with no quotation marks
  • feature article titles are roman, with quotation marks