At MIT, she received a master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1996 and a PhD in the same subject in the year 2000.[2] Her thesis, titled 'Reduced-Order Aerodynamic Models for Aeroelastic Control of Turbomachines', was completed under the supervision of Jaime Peraire and James Paduano.[3] While at MIT, Willcox played for the MIT Women's Rugby team.[4] She is also an avid marathon-runner and an experienced mountain climber.[5]