I am not right up to speed on my academic protocol, but I believe this "Abd" may mean "all but dissertation." That seems an appropriate expression to me when you are applying for a job while still working on the dissertion. But it strikes me as pathetically whiney for man, of a certain age, who has gained some fame in the intellectual trades (liberal division) to still be carrying around this bit about the PhD he almost got one time.
Of course, if he is a dean at Berkeley maybe it gets both him and his employer a little tense for him to be undercredentialed. I think I will add some things that I ~almost~ did to my resumé! (Of course, if "Abd" here means something else, then I've made a fool of myself.)
After formal approval has been given for the dissertation topic, the student is referred to as a "Ph.D. Candidate" or an "ABD", which is an acronym representing the words "All-But-[the]-Dissertation".
If a candidate completes all coursework up to but not including the final dissertation, he may use the informal All But Dissertation (ABD) status