Gemological Institute of America Lab Chief Tom Moses to Step Down After Five Decades of Service

After an extraordinary career spanning nearly 50 years, Tom Moses, chief research and laboratory officer at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), will step down from his position in May.

Moses has played a key role in overseeing the institute’s global grading laboratories and research initiatives. While announcing his departure, GIA stated that there are currently no plans to appoint a direct replacement for his position. The organization noted that both Moses and the institute had been planning for this leadership transition for several years.

As part of the ongoing restructuring, GIA appointed Sriram Natarajan as senior vice president of laboratory operations in August last year, a move seen as part of the broader transition in the institute’s leadership structure.

In recognition of his long-standing contribution to the organization, Moses will be honored with the title Chief of Research Emeritus following his departure.

Moses first joined GIA in 1976 at the institute’s laboratory in Santa Monica, California. Over the decades, he became one of the most influential figures in gemological research and diamond grading standards. In 2002, he was awarded GIA’s prestigious Richard T. Liddicoat Award for outstanding achievements in the field.

Since 2013, Moses has also served as a member of GIA’s board of governors, a role he will relinquish upon leaving the organization.

Commenting on his legacy, GIA president and CEO Pritesh Patel highlighted Moses’s immense contribution to the institute and the global gem and jewellery industry. He noted that Moses’s five decades at GIA represent not just a long tenure but a period of transformative growth for the organization, shaped by his dedication, innovation and leadership.

According to Patel, Moses’s influence will continue through the standards he helped establish and the many professionals he mentored throughout his career.