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I am writing a conference presentation application form, and so far presenters must fill in the blanks as follows:

  • Name
  • Title (Mr, Ms, Dr, Prof, etc.)
  • Position
  • Organisation

I also want to know what degree abbreviations the presenters would like added after their name, e.g. Dr. John Doe, PhD, MSc.

What label should I give the blank that they must fill in?

  • Degrees awarded?
  • Degrees associated with name?
  • Highest degree obtained?
  • Degree abbreviations that you would like to be placed after your name? (too long!)
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    This is probably specific to your community. At the academic conferences I've attended, degrees have never been requested or listed anywhere. Only a few conferences have done titles (honorifics). Most just have full name and organization.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 1:05
  • How about asking for "Name as you would like it to appear on the conference website."? It makes it clear why you are asking and what context it will appear in. Obviously, replace "the conference website" with "your nametag" or whatever you plan to do with the information.
    – Thomas Steinke
    Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 1:37
  • Nice idea, @Thomas. I think I'm going to scrap the separate blanks and just ask them to write their name with titles / degrees as they wish it to appear in conference materials.
    – electroducer
    Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 2:02
  • Please do give some examples of what you expect in your community (not to us, but to the attendees). Then attendees from slightly different communities or cultures won't feel too out of place in their choices.
    – Carol
    Commented May 4, 2016 at 20:56

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[Expanding @Thomas's comment into an answer, so the question may be resolved]

The best way to figure out how a person would like their name listed is to simply ask them directly, as opposed to attempting to infer it from their biographical information.

Thus, when you are putting together the program, name tags, etc. let the form have a blank saying something like:

Name, as you would like it to appear in the official conference program

Note that sometimes people want something different on their badge and on official listings, so it's worth having two blanks if you are asking about badges as well.

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