And in the spring of 2001, at the age of 69, she earned her Ph.D. from UMN’s Department of Work, Community and Family Education after writing a dissertation about the productivity of aging agriculturalists in rural Minnesota.

There is no end in sight for Hively’s pursuit of knowledge. With more time on her hands in the near future, she plans to devote even more hours to learning from those around her.

She hopes to meet with Minneapolis coffee shop owners, for example, to facilitate a weekly table where she and others would invite random people to engage in interesting conversation about deep topics, such as “What matters?” and “What can we do to make this neighborhood a better place?”

She will also continue to teach and take courses at Minnesota’s Elder Learning Institute.

Muesing nominated Hively for the ‘Ageless Hero’ award, which she won last year for her accomplishments as an older Minnesotan.

“An institution that she came from should be mighty proud,” Muesing says.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.