Dr. Kivett received a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics in 1955 from Woman’s College. She went on to earn a Master of Science in Child Development and Family Relations in 1960, and a Ph.D.in Family Relations with a special focus on Social Gerontology in 1976, both from the School of Home Economics at UNCG.

She served as faculty in the Department of Child Development and Family Relations from 1976 through 1999. Her work, both academic and for promoting the welfare of older adults, has spanned several decades. She is one of North Carolina’s most distinguished citizens and one of the most distinguished members of her discipline, gerontology.

Dr. Kivett has been recognized nationally and internationally as one of the most eminent scholars in family studies and has received awards and recognitions, too numerous to mention. She received the O. Max Gardner Award in 1996, the highest honor bestowed by the UNC Board of Governors. In 2012, she was inducted into the Southern Gerontological’s Society Hall of Fame.