From 1959 to 1965, Fernea and Robert lived in Cairo where Robert taught anthropology at the American University in Cairo. While there, she and Robert had their three children. In 1965, the family moved back to the United States and Cambridge, Massachusetts, while Robert taught at Harvard for one year. In 1966, they moved to Austin, Texas, and the University of Texas. Robert eventually became the director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas. Fernea became a senior lecturer in 1975 for the University of Texas and eventually a full-time professor in 1990. From 1980 to 1983 she was the chairwoman for the University’s Women’s Studies Program. Between 1985 and 1986 she was the president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and in 1994 she received an honorary doctorate from the State University at New York.