Rebecca Kuntz Willits Named AIChE Fellow
Portrait of Rebecca Kuntz Willits. Photo by Bella Martinez/Northeastern University.
Rebecca Kuntz Willits, chairperson and professor of chemical engineering at Northeastern University, has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Fellow is AIChE’s highest membership grade, awarded through election by the organization’s Board of Directors to individuals with extensive chemical engineering experience, a strong record of service to the profession, and long-standing AIChE membership.
Willits, who holds an affiliated appointment in Bioengineering and previously served on the faculties at Saint Louis University and The University of Akron, conducts research spanning nerve regeneration, tissue engineering, mechanobiology, and biomaterials, often in close collaboration with medical and surgical faculty. Her work has been funded by the NIH and NSF.
She is also a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and has served on the Boards of Directors for the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), AIMBE, and BMES. Willits also serves on chemical engineering advisory boards at her alma maters.
At Northeastern, Willits co-founded a workshop series for department chairs and leads several NSF-funded initiatives focused on faculty workforce development, mentorship, and inclusion in engineering.