Fern Kaley Willits

Fern "Bunny" Kaley Willits is an American sociologist and professor emerita at Pennsylvania State University known for research about rural women and youth. Willits has published over 70 academic papers and 14 books and she is recognized as a "distinguished rural sociologist" by the Rural Sociological Society.

Career Willits graduated as valedictorian from Coraopolis High School in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania in 1954. She earned her Bachelor of Science at Penn State in 1958, her Master of Science in 1961, PhD in 1964 under rural sociologist Robert C. Bealer with a dissertation titled An Exploratory Analysis of Individual and Social Level Meanings of Rurality. She has been a professor at the institution since 1964. is cited by the Rural Sociological Society. She has collaborated with the sociologists Carolyn Sachs and Don A. Dillman. The article was cited by Irene Kirkpatrick and Morag Mitchell in their book Rural Tourism and Sustainable Business. Some of Willits' research includes Pennsylvanians' perceptions of fossil fuels.

Awards In 1988, Willits was given the Award for Excellence in Instruction by the Rural Sociological Society. In 1994, she was awarded the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award. In 1995, she obtained the Penn State Alumni Association Teaching Fellow Award. In 1998, Willits was given the Award of Distinguished Rural Sociologist by the Rural Sociological Society. In 2019, the Dr. Fern "Bunny" Willits Graduate Award Endowment in Rural Sociology was established by two former statistics students to honor her contributions to the university and to the discipline of rural sociology, providing worthy Penn State candidates with $50,000 financial aid.

Selected publications