Vivian recently started a new role as Gulf bureau chief for The New York Times. Previously, she was a journalist for Bloomberg News in Saudi Arabia, where she has been based since 2015. She's covered every major story during the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, from the kingdom's midnight power struggles and futuristic mega-projects to the social changes sweeping the country and the simultaneous crackdown on dissent. She’s most interested in the everyday lives of Saudis as they navigate the changes reshaping their country.

Born and raised in Chicago, Vivian graduated from Yale College in 2009 and joined the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she did stints on the police and criminal court beats. Her work in Pittsburgh focused on topics including race, poverty and child welfare, and her investigative series on injuries to children in state-licensed facilities, "A long road to a safe place," won the Anna Quindlen award for excellence in journalism on behalf of American children and families.

In 2011, Vivian relocated to the Arabian Peninsula, where she wrote for an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates and studied Arabic in Oman before moving to Saudi Arabia. She is proficient in Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial Gulf Arabic.