Purpose:
This style guide seeks to help Lehigh's writers and editors, including freelancers, achieve consistency in the way they use grammar and punctuation. For general (non-Lehigh) usage, writers and editors follow the rules and guidelines of the Associated Press Stylebook.
Academic and administrative titles:
Use the full title when first referring to a person. This first reference should consist of the person's name followed by his or her title. Use a comma before and after the title. Use lowercase in most cases, except when the discipline is a proper noun.
- Correct: Xiaolei Huang, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, gave a lecture.
- Correct: John Smith, professor of English, received a grant.
- Correct: Alan J. Snyder, vice president for research and graduate studies, gave a talk.
- Correct: Daniel Lopresti, chair of the department of computer science and engineering
- Incorrect: Assistant professor of computer science and engineering Xiaolei Huang gave a lecture.
- Incorrect: John Smith, Professor of English, received a grant.
- Incorrect: Alan J. Snyder, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, gave a talk.
Capitalize the full title of an endowed chair or professorship.
- Correct: Arup K. SenGupta, P.C. Rossin Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and professor of chemical engineering
- Incorrect: Arup K. SenGupta, P.C. Rossin Professor of civil and environmental engineering and professor of chemical engineering
On second reference (in the body of a story), use only the person's last name. This applies to all persons. Do not use the terms Dr. or Prof.
- Correct: Huang gave credit to her students.
- Incorrect: Prof. Huang gave credit to her students.
- Correct: Gast gave a talk in China.
- Incorrect: President Gast gave a talk in China.
In headlines, a formal title may precede a name. When it does, it should be capitalized. Some titles may be abbreviated; some may not.
- Correct: In China, President Gast calls for understanding
- Correct: In China, Gast calls for understanding
- Correct: Prof. Li solves quantum error codes
- Incorrect: In China, Pres. Gast calls for understanding
Use the correct preposition in titles.
- Correct: John Coulter, associate dean for graduate studies and research in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
- Incorrect: John Coulter, associate dean of graduate studies and research in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
Names of offices and academic departments:
In general, these are not capitalized unless the discipline is a proper name.
- Correct: the office of human resources, the office of career services, the department of history, the department of English
- Exceptions: the Alumni Association, the University Art Galleries, the Zoellner Arts Center
Names of academic programs:
Same as for academic departments:
- Correct: the bioengineering program, the biochemistry program, the American studies program, the Africana studies program
Names of colleges:
These are capitalized.
- Correct: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education
Names of research centers and institutes:
These are capitalized. A center's acronym may be used on second reference if it is enclosed in parentheses immediately after its first use.
- Correct: The Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (CAMN) received a large grant. CAMN researchers will use the grant to purchase equipment.
In some cases, the sequence may be reversed.
- Correct: the ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Center
The university board of trustees:
Is lowercase
