Susan M. Jacques, who has headed GIA for the past 11 years, will retire at the end of 2025.
GIA said in a statement that it has begun a “global search” for her successor and will consider internal and external candidates. The search will be led by a committee of GIA governors and hiring firm Korn Ferry.
Jacques has served as GIA’s president and CEO since Jan. 1, 2014, after holding the two titles for six months on an interim basis. Prior to taking over at GIA, Jacques was CEO of Omaha, Neb., jeweler Borsheims. She has been a member of GIA’s board of governors since 1996 and chaired the board from 2008 to 2014.
“I am confident and optimistic about the future success of GIA and the gem and jewelry industry as I enter this next chapter of my life.” Jacques said in the GIA statement. “I will assist with the transition of GIA’s next leader through the end of this year.”
Jacques is retiring with a shelf full of industry honors. She received Jewelers of America’s lifetime achievement award last March and the American Gem Society’s Robert M. Shipley Award the previous year. In 2020, Jacques won the Jewelers Vigilance Committee’s Stanley Schechter Award.
GIA presidents:
Susan M. Jacques, 2013–2025
Donna M. Baker, 2006–2013
William Boyajian, 1986–2006
Glenn Nord, 1983–1986
Richard Liddicoat, 1952–1983
Robert M. Shipley, 1931–1952
(photo courtesy of GIA)
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