GIA appoints Susan M. Jacques as president and CEO

The Board of Governors of GIA (Gemological Institute of America) announced that Susan M. Jacques is appointed president and CEO of the organisation and will assume responsibilities from January 1, 2014. At the board’s request, she has been interim president and CEO since June 2013.

Jacques is current president and CEO of Borsheims Fine Jewelry and Gifts in Omaha, Nebraska, and chairs the GIA board. Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. which acquired Borsheims in 1989, said, " While it is with great sadness that I accept her resignation after her long and stellar career with Borsheims, I know she is accepting a role at GIA that she is passionate about and allows her to give back to the jewelry industry. I am confident that she will bring the same style of professionalism and collaboration to her new and exciting role in the gem and jewelry industry that she has honed throughout her years of service at Borsheims."

Jacques mentioned that “With the leadership team, particularly Senior Vice President of Laboratory and Research Tom Moses, I look forward to working closely with all of GIA’s stakeholders to address their important issues as we build on the Institute’s successes and strengths.”

The GIA board also announced appointing John A. Green as chair, replacing Jacques. Besides serving as a GIA board member since 2008, Green is CEO of Lux Bond & Green, a family-owned jeweler established in 1898. His appointment is effective from now. Speaking on Jacques, Green mentioned - “Her evident passion for the global gem and jewelry industry, impressive success in business, experience as a gemologist and commitment to the Institute’s public benefit mission led to the board’s decision. She is the perfect person to lead GIA now and into the future.”

Jacques holds a long association with GIA, receiving a Graduate Gemologist (GG) diploma in 1980, appointed to GIA’s Board of Governors in 1996 and elected chair in 2008. As president and CEO she will continue as a member of the board. Jacques has served across various organisations and commended with numerous honours, including being a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Jewelry Association in 2010, being inducted into the National Jeweler’s Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Omaha Business Hall of Fame in 2013, a member of the Jewelers of America Ethical Initiatives committee and the honorary chair of the Friends of the Diamond Development Initiative. She has served on the boards of Jewelers of America, the Jewelers Vigilance Committee and Jewelers for Children, amongst her other feats.