Renata Tonks Forste is an American sociologist who specializes in the health and well-being of women and children in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. She has served as the chair of the department of sociology at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) and has also directed that institutions women's studies program.

Biography

Forste was born in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and raised in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

area. Forste is a

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

who sees the faith as more than just church attendance. She has bachelor's and master's degrees from BYU and a Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. Forste joined the BYU faculty in 1995. Previously she was on the faculty of

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

. In addition to studies related to Latin American, she has done studies on the relationship between breast feeding and women educational levels in the United States. Forste and her husband Michael are the parents of three daughters.

Publications

Her most widely cited article is "The Decision to Breastfeed in the United States: Does Race Matter" published in the journal ''

Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

'' with Jessica Weiss and Emily Lippinoctt in Vol. 108, No 2, in August 2001. Her next most cited article is ''Sexual Exclusivity Among Dating, Cohabitation and Married Women'' published with Koray Tanfer in the ''

Journal of Marriage and Family The ''Journal of Marriage and Family'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations. It was established in 1939 as ''Living'', renamed to ''Marriage and Family Living'' in 19 ...

'' Vol. 58, no. 1, February 1996. She also wrote the 1984 book ''Education for Women at Brigham Young University: Students Perception of Opportunities, Problems and Stereotypes'' under her maiden name Renata Tonks. She has also published a study in the journal '' Fathering'' that suggests non-father positive male role models can be very helpful to boys as they develop, especially those who lack fathers of their own."BYU Study: Role Models Matter"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (formerly ''LDS Church News'') is a multi-platform supplement and subdivision of the ''Deseret News'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally, the LDS Church). ...

'', July 9, 2009.

References

External links

Mormon scholars testify entry on Forste

bio from BYU women's studeies program

BYU bio of Forste

Mormon Literature Database entry for Forste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forste, Renata Living people Latter Day Saints from New Mexico Brigham Young University alumni University of Chicago alumni Western Washington University faculty American sociologists Brigham Young University faculty American women sociologists Latter Day Saints from Virginia Latter Day Saints from Oregon Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Utah Year of birth missing (living people)