GIA’s Board of Governors inducted new members during its November 2016 board meeting held at the Institute’s Carlsbad, Calif. headquarters. Dione Kenyon, recently-retired president and CEO of The Jewelers Board of Trade, was elected Chair of the GIA Board of Governors, seceding John Green, president and CEO of Lux Bond & Green jewelers, who remains on the board. The other new members include: Dr. Barbara Dutrow, Adolphe G. Gueymard Professor of Geology at Louisiana State University; and Stephen Kahler, senior vice president of global sales operations for Swarovski Gemstones.
GIA honoured those members who retired during the annual meeting including Aron Suna and Hank Siegel. Glenn Nord, former president of GIA and a member of the board since 1983, was named Governor Emeritus.
Barbara Dutrow, Ph.D., is widely recognized for her innovations in teaching mineralogy and co-authoring a bestselling mineralogy textbook. She is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Mineralogical Society of America. Stephen Kahler joined Swarovski in 1993 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in the management and sales of synthetic and natural colored stones. Aron Suna, president of Suna Bros., Inc., and Hank Siegel, president and CEO of Hamilton Jewelers, each spent eight years serving the GIA Board of Governors. Together with 14 other governors, Dutrow and Kahler will be instrumental in guiding GIA in its mission to protect the public trust in gems and jewelry through research, education and laboratory services.
The Institute’s 10th annual research meeting held a week prior to the meeting saw around 60 experts from across the globe meeting and reviewing topics including developments in instrumentation, advancements in detecting diamond treatments and synthetics, origin determination of colored gemstones, and pearl structures.
Attendees included GIA staff involved in research (22 with doctoral degrees), consulting scientists, fellows from the Richard T. Liddicoat Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program, and GIA governors and executives.
“The remarkable work of this research team is directly incorporated into GIA’s laboratory services and education programs. We’re incredibly grateful for the many breakthroughs they’ve made in the study of gems and minerals,” said Susan Jacques, GIA’s president and CEO.