{{Short description|Fellow or tutor of a traditional college}} {{distinguish|Don (honorific)}} A '''don''' is an academic, particularly in British English. The term is particularly applied to fellows and tutors of colleges at traditional collegiate universities but is also used more generally for teaching staff at universities and colleges.<ref name=collins/> The usage is also found in Canada and in rare instances in the United States.
Like the term ''don'' used for Roman Catholic priests, the term ''don'' derives from the Latin ''dominus'', meaning "lord", and is a historical remnant of Oxford and Cambridge having started as ecclesiastical institutions in the Middle Ages.<ref>Mary Beard: ''It's a Don's Life'', London: Profile, 2009. {{ISBN|1-84668-251-7}}</ref>
The term ''don'' is also used for schoolmasters at Winchester College, where as well as the term generally meaning "teacher", there are also "Div Dons", form masters, and "House Dons", housemasters;<ref>Charles Stevens, ''Winchester Notions'' (London: The Athlone Press, 1998), p. 102</ref> and at Radley College, another boys-only boarding school modelled after Oxford colleges of the early 19th century.
At some universities in Canada, such as the University of King's College and the University of New Brunswick, a don is the senior head of a university residence. At these institutions, a don is typically a faculty member, staff member, or postgraduate student, whose responsibilities in the residence are primarily administrative. The don supervises their residence and a team of undergraduate resident assistants, proctors, or other student employees.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ukings.ca/campus-community/residence-dining/|title=Residence & Dining {{!}} University of Kings College|newspaper=University of Kings College|access-date=2016-10-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/residence/returning/don.html|title=Become a Don {{!}} UNB|website=www.unb.ca|access-date=2016-10-13}}</ref>
In other Canadian institutions, such as Huron College and the University of Toronto, a don is a resident assistant, typically an upper-year student paid a stipend to act as an advisor to and supervisor of the students in a university residence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huronuc.on.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/CampusCommunityresidence/ApplytobeaDon|title=Apply to be a Don|website=www.huronuc.on.ca|access-date=2016-10-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/hs/donships-ras|title=Donships and RAs {{!}} Student Life|website=www.studentlife.utoronto.ca|access-date=2016-10-13}}</ref>
==In the United Kingdom== The word ''don'' was originally used in the UK for a fellow or tutor of a college or university, particularly at traditional collegiate universities,<ref>For background information and opinion, see a recently published selection of short articles by Cambridge don Mary Beard: ''It's a Don's Life'', London: Profile, 2009. {{ISBN|1-84668-251-7}}</ref> and has come to be a casual term used for any academic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/05/university-buckingham-vice-chancellor-ousted-anti-woke-view/|title=Dons back University of Buckingham vice-chancellor ‘ousted for anti-woke views’|author= Poppy Wood|work=The Telegraph|date=5 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/student-contact-has-always-given-dons-collapsing-souffle-feeling|title=Student contact has always given dons that collapsing soufflé feeling|author= Laurie Taylor|work=Times Higher Education|date=27 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/4671a4c0-163d-11e8-9376-4a6390addb44|title=Striking dons add to UK students’ resentments|work=Financial Times|date= 20 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=collins>{{cite web| url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/don| title=Don| work=Collins Dictionary| access-date=15 August 2025}}</ref>
The academic usage dates back to the 17th century and, like the title of ''don'' used for Roman Catholic priests and for Spanish, Italian and Portuguese noblemen, derives from the Latin {{lang|la|dominus}}, meaning "lord".<ref name=collins/> It is either derived from an application of the Spanish title to one having authority or position, or from the academical use of {{lang|la|dominus}}, which was still in use in the early 20th century as a title for a bachelor of arts at Cambridge and other universities. An English corruption, "dan", was in early use as a title of respect, equivalent to master. The particular literary application to poets is due to Edmund Spenser's use of "Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled."<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Dominus |volume=8 |page=405}}</ref>
The adjective ''donnish'' derives from ''don'' and refers to someone who is rather serious (often too serious) or intellectual.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/donnish|title=Donnish|work=Collins Dictionary| access-date=15 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/donnish|title=Donnish|work=Cambridge Dictionary|access-date=15 August 2025}}</ref>
==In Canada== At some universities in Canada, such as the University of King's College<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ukings.ca/campus-community/residence-dining/|title=Residence & Dining {{!}} University of Kings College|newspaper=University of Kings College|access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref> and the University of New Brunswick,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/residence/returning/don.html|title=Become a Don {{!}} UNB|website=www.unb.ca|access-date=13 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014060923/http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/residence/returning/don.html|archive-date=14 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> a don is the senior head of a university residence. At these institutions, a don is typically a faculty member, staff member, or postgraduate student, whose responsibilities in the residence are primarily administrative. The don supervises their residence and a team of undergraduate resident assistants, proctors, or other student employees.
In other Canadian institutions, such as Huron College<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huronuc.on.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/CampusCommunityresidence/ApplytobeaDon|title=Apply to be a Don|website=www.huronuc.on.ca|access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref> and the University of Toronto,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/hs/donships-ras|title=Donships and RAs {{!}} Student Life|website=www.studentlife.utoronto.ca|access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref> a don is a resident assistant, typically an upper-year student paid a stipend to act as an advisor to and supervisor of the students in a university residence.
==In the United States== At Sarah Lawrence College, faculty advisors are referred to as "dons".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/undergraduate/|title=The Sarah Lawrence Education|website=www.sarahlawrence.edu|language=en|access-date=2019-11-03}}</ref> Dons meet regularly with students to plan a course of study.
The "Don" is also an official mascot of the athletic teams of the University of San Francisco,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usfdons.com/ |title=USF Dons |publisher=USF Dons |access-date=23 May 2012}}</ref> Spanish Fork High School,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfhs.nebo.edu/ |title=Spanish Fork High School Dons |publisher=Nebo School District |access-date=17 Sep 2020}}</ref> Arroyo High School,<ref>{{cite web |title=Arroyo Dons |url=https://arroyodonsathletics.com/ |publisher=Arroyo High School Athletics |access-date=15 April 2025}}</ref> Amador Valley High School,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://amador.pleasantonusd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=300850&type=d&pREC_ID=694675 |title=Amador Valley High School Dons |publisher=Pleasanton Unified School District |access-date=14 Mar 2021}}</ref> and Susan Miller Dorsey High School.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://dorseyhighalumni.org/ |publisher=Dorsey Alumni and Friends |access-date=15 April 2025}}</ref>
==See also== * Academic rank
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Don (Academia)}} Category:Education and training occupations Category:University of Cambridge Category:University of Oxford