The Board of Directors of the American Gem Trade Association announced Thursday that they have accepted the resignation of Douglas K. Hucker as chief executive officer and executive director of the Association. Hucker will continue to work for the Association in an advisory capacity for the next six months.

A statement issued by the AGTA did not give a reason for the resignation.

Hucker was a former board member and has served as the Association’s CEO for the past ten years. The board of directors in a statement expressed its “profound appreciation” for Hucker’s service and for the role he has played in growing the stature and influence of the AGTA, and in helping elected board members that firmly establish the AGTA “as the most respected voice of the colored gemstone and cultured pearl industry.”

“Our Association and our industry has benefited immeasurably by Doug’s service in many capacities,” AGTA president Rick Krementz said in the statement. “He will continue to be part of our family and our community.”

Hucker will be honored with the AGTA Lifetime Membership Award at the 2008 AGTA GemFair Tucson Dinner Dance and Awards Gala.

“There has, perhaps, never been a period of time in our industry where there is such excitement and enthusiasm about colored gemstones and cultured pearls,” Hucker said in the statement. “While I truly look forward to pursuing many opportunities on the ‘outside,’ I feel I will always be a part of the AGTA, and it a part of me. I am enormously proud of the work our many board members and staff have accomplished during my tenure, chief among them being the continued growth of the AGTA GemFair Tucson as the most important marketplace for gemstones in the world, the opening of our AGTA Gemological Testing Center, and the recent launch of AGTA’s new brand as ‘The Authority in Color.'”

Ed Griffin, AGTA chief operating officer, will be the primary contact person for AGTA until a new CEO is announced.

JCK