Former Gemological Institute of America (GIA) president Glenn R. Nord recently received GIA’s highest individual honor—the Richard T. Liddicoat Award for Distinguished Achievement. GIA president William E. Boyajian presented Nord with the award during a ceremony at the Institute’s world headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. This was only the seventh time in GIA’s history that the special tribute had been awarded.
Ed Balian, Ph.D., has been named dean of business for GIA. In addition to this position, he will be the instructor for two of GIA’s three Graduate Retail Management (GRM) program courses.
Donn M. Silberman has been appointed director of GIA GEM Instruments. Silberman will lead GEM Instruments in its continued development of gemological instruments for use by both GIA and the gem and jewelry industries.
GIA has named alumnus Robert E. Barron of Temple, Ga., as the Institute’s Outstanding Distance Education Graduate of the Year. The award is presented annually to one exceptional Distance Education student who has achieved extraordinary standards of academic, personal, and professional excellence within the gem and jewelry industry. Barron was recognized in April at the 76th annual conference of the Distance Education Training Council (DETC), the national organization that credits GIA’s distance education courses and programs. Barron was enrolled in GIA’s Graduate Gemology program while working as a bench jeweler for D. Geller & Son Jewelers in Smyrna, Ga., where he has been employed since 1998.
Two new members have been elected to the GIA board of governors. Fine-jewelry executive Michael J. Kazanjian and educator William B. Cottingham replace departing board members Frank H. Maier Jr. and James C. Clark.
Colored-diamond expert John King gave the final presentation in GIA’s 2001 lecture series on “What Makes a Gem Special? Understanding the Key Factors in Determining Beauty, Rarity, and Durability.” His topic was “Color in Diamonds: Colorless to Colorful.” King serves as laboratory projects officer for the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, headquartered in New York. He has participated in grading many of the world’s largest and most renowned fancy colored diamonds, including the famous Hope Diamond.