Al Woodill, “Mr. AGS” Who Headed Group For 40 Years, Dies

By Rob Bates | August 18, 2021

Alfred “Al” Woodill (pictured), who served as executive director of the American Gem Society (AGS) for four decades, helping to turn it into an industry institution, died on Aug. 16. He was 101.

“We are all heartbroken at the loss of this great man, who was so instrumental in shaping the American Gem Society,” said Katherine Bodoh, CEO of AGS and the AGS Laboratories, in a statement. “Mr. Woodill was a direct link for many of us to [AGS founder] Robert M. Shipley himself. But beyond that connection, the legacy he left on our community is immeasurable.”

A California native, Woodill was a nephew of Robert Shipley’s wife, Beatrice. He worked for the Shipleys while attending high school and the University of California, Los Angeles. He temporarily left school to serve as a bomber pilot in World War II, rising to the rank of captain in the Army Air Corps.

In a 2005 interview detailing his time in the Army, Woodill recalled the rush of flying a B-29.

“That was a real hunk of hardware,” he said. “I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got 15 guys in this airplane, and the airplane cost a million bucks, and I’m running it.’ … You don’t get to pause on that too long because you’re busy, but, you know, I remember thinking, you know, [I’m] king of the hill.”

Woodill graduated from UCLA in 1946 with a B.S. in business—making him the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year university. He then joined his uncle Robert on the road, selling GIA courses, promoting the AGS, and attending Conclaves. Knowing shorthand, he’d write as Robert dictated articles during their trips by car, sometimes balancing a typewriter on his lap.

“When [Shipley] dictated something on gemology,” Woodill later recalled to William Shuster, in Shuster’s GIA history, Legacy of Leadership, “you weren’t only to write it down, but learn it just as fast.”

In 1947, Woodill became AGS’ first executive director. He once joked his first job as executive director at the group’s annual Conclave was to “have a metal box and sell lunch tickets.”

He ended up doing far more than that. In his four decades running the group, he grew its guilds and membership, and introduced signature initiatives like the Accredited Gem Laboratory designation, AGS’ Diamond Grading Standards, and the group’s governance and education requirements.

In 1970, Woodill, who was so associated with the group he was nicknamed “Mr. AGS,” won its third Robert M. Shipley Award. He retired in 1987 but continued attending the group’s conclaves for the next 30 years, occasionally expressing surprise that the once-stodgy event now included wild, raucous parties.

In 2000, Woodill won the AGS’ first Lifetime Achievement Award at its inaugural Circle of Distinction dinner. He attended his final Conclave in Hollywood, Calif., in 2017, where he received a standing ovation from the multigenerational audience.

In later years, Woodill continued to advise AGS leadership. He called each new president of the AGS board of directors to welcome them to the role, and offered support and advice to Bodoh and her predecessor, Ruth Batson.

The AGS has set up a tribute page full of photos and memories here.

Wrote current president Michael Richards: “I didn’t know Al very well before becoming president of the board a little over a year ago. Like John Carter and so many presidents that served before me, I was the recipient of a phone call congratulating me and welcoming me to the role. Over the last year I have had the honor of Al calling me at least 10 times just to check on me and make sure everything was OK at AGS. His dedication and continued support and concern about our society makes you understand why he was often referred to as Mr. AGS.”

In 2020, UCLA interviewed him as part of its Celebrating Centenarians series: