How do I differentiate between addressing two professors with the same last name?

Question

I am currently taking an online course (at a university in the US) in which once a week I am in the same virtual meeting room as two professors, one male and one female, with the same last name. I am unsure in how I should go about directly addressing one of them when I typically address all my professors as "Professor <lastname>" . As a second-year undergraduate student, I have been told it is inappropriate to address both professors by their first name if they have not stated this is okay (e.g. my past professors have typically said "you can call me <firstname>" on the first day of class). Additionally, when I took a course with one of these professors last year, I (and all other students) addressed them as "Professor <lastname>". If addressing them by first name is inappropriate in this context, how would I selectively address one when both professors are in the room?

With the exception of myself and another undergraduate, all other students in this course are graduate students, and address the professors on a first-name basis. So this has not a common cause of confusion in the course.

Answer 1

There are few things you can do.

1. Call each by their full name like 'Professor Ann Smith' or 'Professor Bill Smith'.
2. Ask whether you can call them by 'Professor first-name' like 'Professor Ann' or 'Professor Bill'.
3. Continue to use 'Professor last-name'. They'll either decide who will answer or ask you to clarify which person you wanted.
4. And the easiest, as pointed out by Buffy, ask the professors if there's an alternate, unique name you can use so you can differentiate between them.

Answer 2

In addition to the other great suggestions, you can address them as "Professor X, Sir" and "Professor X, Ma'am". That's so over the top formal that they might cringe and tell you to use their first names.

Answer 3

edit: as the OP points out in the comments, the following answer only makes sense in an in-person, non-Covid-19 setting. I'm leaving it up for the case the pandemic is resolved at some point.

Address them as Professor Lastname while looking the person you're addressing in the eye. The non-addressed person should take the hint from you not looking at them, that you mean the other person. If this indeed leads to confusion, count on the professors to suggest a way out.

Answer 4

At my school, there are several married professor couples who we refer to as "Dr. Mr. Last Name" and "Dr. Mrs. Last Name". This would probably be less appropriate if they are unrelated, and is informal enough that you would need their approval first, but it is both unambiguous and obvious in meaning.