Dr. Diane Kathryn Lavett was born in Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1944, and she grew up in Royal Oak and Berkley, Michigan, suburbs of Detroit. Married after her first year at the University of Chicago, Diane received a B.A. (1969) and a Ph.D. (1974) in biology, with a specialization in genetics from Emory University. While at Yale University doing a postdoctoral fellowship in DNA biochemistry, she received a M.S. in marriage and family counseling (1980), from Southern Connecticut State College. Diane has taught many courses in biology but has specialized in genetics. She taught at Emory University, Kennesaw State College, Clark-Atlanta University, and received tenure at The State University of New York at Cortland. Diane has done research in genetics, been a genetics counselor at Northside Hospital and the Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children in Atlanta, was an expert witness in the use of genetic analysis of crime scene materials in over fifty criminal trials, and has published nine college textbooks and many professional articles. Most of all, she considers herself to be a teacher. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and spends many weeks every year on an island off the coast of Charleston. Her Labrador retriever Addie is her current companion on daily walks in the woods and along the ocean shore.
