Glenn Nord, Third President of GIA, Passes Away

Glenn Nord, member of the GIA Board of Governors and past president of the Institute, passed away early on Sunday, June 9. Throughout his more than 50-year association with GIA, Nord was a student, instructor, president and member of the Institute’s Board of Governors. His contributions are numerous, his influence far-reaching and his legacy enduring. His devotion to GIA and its mission, together with his clear-eyed and compassionate drive for excellence, helped guide the Institute through difficult times.

 “Glenn Nord was a committed advocate for GIA’s mission, and for our students and the GIA staff, particularly those in our gemological laboratories,” said GIA President and CEO Susan Jacques. “His business acumen and wisdom, shared over decades with GIA management and the Board of Governors, provided strategic guidance that built GIA’s success.”

 Nord, who turned 90 in 2018, earned his GIA Graduate Gemologist diploma in 1959. Hired by GIA’s second president Richard T. Liddicoat in 1961, Nord became one of GIA’s corps of traveling instructors, combining gemological training for students with energetic promotion of GIA to local jewelers. He pioneered the Institute’s corporate training programs and, in 1970, took GIA instruction to Israel and Japan, beginning a global outreach that now spans 14 cities in 12 countries.

 In 1974, Nord left GIA to pursue an opportunity in the international diamond trade. In 1983, the Board of Governors asked him to return as president of the Institute during the transition from then-president Richard T. Liddicoat. With the appointment of Bill Boyajian as GIA’s president in 1986, Nord retired. He remained on the GIA Board of Governors until his death, the last few years as Governor Emeritus. He received GIA’s highest honor, the Richard T. Liddicoat Award, in 2001.

 Along with other important early leaders of GIA including Richard T. Liddicoat, G. Robert Crowningshield, Bert Krashes and Eunice Miles, Nord laid the foundation upon which GIA is built. His invaluable insights and unwavering commitment to GIA and its mission will continue to be of lasting importance to the Institute’s effort to protect consumers and serve the public good.

Nord is survived by his wife Hannah, their three children, and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Services will be held on June 22 in Pasadena, California.

 GIA will establish a scholarship in his name in the near future.