I always call people what they ask to be called. It seems to work OK.

What at least partially inspired me to venture this question was an incident at a University of Tennessee visit a few weeks ago. I was meeting with an anthropology lecturer and mentioned an exhibit at the museum there that "Andrew Kramer" had designed. She referred to him again several times in the meeting but she seemed to make a point of calling him "Dr. Kramer" every time. I was wondering if I had made some sort of faux pas.

 

It could very well be a respect thing.

I noticed that the staff here (in Arizona) always refer to the professors as Dr. something, whereas postdocs are addressed without a title, for instance.