Honorary titles in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of their regular contributions either on an unpaid basis by a non-employee or by an employeee beyond regular duties. Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

This practice exists, e.g., in universities and colleges of the United States. A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... The term college (Latin collegium) is most often used today to denote an educational institution. ...

Examples of such titles are Honorary Professor, Honorary Reader, Honorary Lecturer, Visiting Fellow, Industrial Fellow. A professor (Latin: one who publicly professes to be an expert) (or prof for short) is a senior teacher, lecturer and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... A reader might be several different things, depending on the context: there are several cities in the United States named Reader a reader is a minor member of the clergy in some Christian churches a reader is a book of different pieces of writing, often by many authors, collected for... Lecturer is the name given to university teachers in most of the English-speaking world (but not at most universities in the US or Canada) who do not hold a professorship. ... A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. ...

Honorary title holders non-employees enjoy a number of privileges available to regular staff members, such as access to facilities and libraries, parking permit, etc.