Obituary: Anna M. Miller, 69, Appraiser and Author

Anna Miller, G.G., a gems and jewelry appraisal authority and author and the developer and international director of The Master Valuer Program, died on April 29. She was 69.

Miller was a jewelry historian, lecturer, and instructor. She was a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers, a past regional governor of the Accredited Gemologist Association, co-founder and international director of the Association of Women Gemologists, a senior member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers, and a Master Gemologist Appraiser. Her other professional affiliations in the United States and Great Britain included membership in the American Gem Trade Association, Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association, American Gem Association, American Society of Jewelry Historians, the International Society of Appraisers, and the Society of Jewellery Historians. She was also an honorary curator of gems at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

"Anna Miller was one of our important women pioneers in gemology, having co-founded the Association of Women in Gemology in the early 1990s," says Gail Brett Levine, publisher of Auction Market Resource. "As an independent thinker and staunch feminist, Anna was known to espouse viewpoints that were not generally accepted or appreciated. Her success can be measured by the opposition of her peers to her questioning of existing protocols. Most of her viewpoints added to the overall knowledge of her vocation and have benefited all of us."

"She was one of the innovators in the business," says Howard Rubin of GemDialogue Systems. "The industry was lucky to have had someone like that. She raised the bar."

Miller created the first home study course for gem and jewelry appraisers, called The Master Valuer Program. She also authored four gem and jewelry books, including The Illustrated Guide to Jewelry Appraising, Gems and Jewelry Appraising: Techniques of Professional Practice, The Buyer's Guide to Affordable Antique Jewelry, and Cameos Old and New. At the time of her death, she was completing a new book on Guatemalan jade and revising two of her previous works.

Miller is survived by her husband of 51 years, John E. Miller; a son, Eric Miller, husband of Bonnie Miller; a daughter, Kay M. Miller; grandchildren Matthew Williams, Cody Williams, Andrew Miller, and Austen Miller; a brother, Herbert Shibley; and an aunt, Lucretia Davidson.