Rate My Professor Renata Forste

Renata Forste serves as a distinguished faculty member in Social Science at Brigham Young University, holding the position of Professor in the Department of Sociology. She completed her BS in Sociology at BYU in 1984, followed by an MS in Sociology from the same institution in 1986, and obtained her PhD in Sociology, with emphases in demography and statistics, from the University of Chicago in 1992. Beginning her academic career as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Western Washington University from 1992 to 1995, she joined BYU in 1995. There, she progressed through the ranks: Assistant Professor from 1995 to 1998, Associate Professor from 1998 to 2006, and Full Professor since 2006. Forste has taken on significant leadership roles, including Chair of the Department of Sociology from July 2006 to May 2012, Associate Dean in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences from 2002 to 2005, Coordinator of Latin American Studies from 1998 to 2001, Coordinator of Women’s Studies from 2010 to 2011, Director of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies from 2017 to 2021, and International Vice President since August 2021, overseeing Continuing Education, Performing Arts Management, and the Kennedy Center.

Forste's research interests encompass demography—particularly fertility, mortality, maternal and child health—and patterns of family formation, with substantial focus on Latin America. Her scholarly contributions include key publications such as “Patterns of Entry into Cohabitation and Marriage Among Mainland Puerto Rican Women” with Nancy S. Landale (Demography, 1991), “The Effects of Breastfeeding and Birth Spacing on Infant and Child Mortality in Bolivia” (Population Studies, 1994), “Infant Feeding Practices and Child Health in Bolivia” (Journal of Biosocial Science, 1998), “The Decision to Breastfeed in the U.S.: Does Race Matter?” with Jessica Weiss and Emily Lippincott (Pediatrics, 2001), “Household Labor, Gender Roles, and Family Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison” with Kiira Fox (2012), and “Cross-National Variation in Family Influences on Child Health” with Tim Heaton, John P. Hoffmann, and Dallan Flake (Social Science & Medicine, 2005). She received the John A. Widtsoe Fellowship (2003-2005), Martin B. Hickman Outstanding Scholar Award (2009-2010), Alcuin Fellowship (2010-2012), FHSS Achievement in Teaching (2013), and Virginia F. Cutler Honored Faculty Lecturer (2017). Forste initiated the Global Women’s Studies program at BYU and delivered a disciple-scholar lecture in 2026.