Born in India during World War II of missionary parents, Wil graduated from Kodaikanal School in the hills of southern India in 1958.   His educational qualifications include a B.A. from Thiel College in Greenville, PA, an M.A. in Mathematics from The Pennsylvania State University in 1965, an M.A. in English Literature from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1976, and a Ph.D. in Geography from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1978. 

 Following three years teaching math in an American School for Turkish girls near Istanbul and teaching first year math for two years at an agricultural college in Malawi, Wil spent twenty-five years teaching and conducting research in Health Geography and Cultural Geography at Rutgers University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   He is well-known internationally for his work in Health Geography and Cultural Geography.  Especially notable is his development of the concept of therapeutic landscapes which has triggered dozens of studies by geographers and other social scientists.

During his career Wil carried out both quantitative and qualitative research.  His own work took him to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Greece, and France, as well as various locations in the north and south of both the U.S. and England.  Working with graduate students carried him vicariously to Bosnia Herzegovina, Thailand, India, and Bolivia. He has also engaged with imaginary places as depicted in novels.

 

After retirement from UNC in 2003, Wil lived with his English wife Joyce for fourteen years at the edge of the English Lake District and spent much of his free time rambling among its universally acclaimed lakes and fells.  During this time he hiked around 3000 miles and climbed over 900,000 feet in the fells within the Lake District and the nearby Yorkshire Dales.

Wil now lives in a vibrant retirement community in Charlotte, North Carolina where his activities include helping build new homes with Habitat for Humanity, singing in the community choir, participating in a Readers Theater, and working with the Health & Wellness Committee.