Tom Moses to Leave GIA in May After Nearly 50 Years

Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer at the Gemological Institute of America, will step down in May 2026 after roughly 50 years with the institute, and GIA said it will confer an emeritus research title in recognition of his service. Moses will remain with the institute through May to work with research and laboratory teams during the handover, and GIA has said the organization and Moses "have been preparing [for this transition] for the last few years."

GIA also stated there are no plans to replace Moses in his current role, even as the institute frames a multimonth transition in which Moses will work closely with lab and research staff to ensure continuity. The institute will grant him an emeritus designation, reported variously as Chief of Gemological Research, Emeritus, and chief of research emeritus, reflecting the language used in GIA communications and industry accounts.

Moses’s tenure traces to 1976, when he earned his Graduate Gemologist diploma and joined GIA’s Santa Monica laboratory, later moving to New York City to work under Robert Crowningshield. Moses acknowledged his mentors directly: "I have been extremely privileged to work with the two greatest gemmologists and have them as my mentors," he said. "I will always be grateful to Richard Liddicoat for hiring me and for his selfless guidance, and to Robert Crowningshield, with whom I worked closely for 20 years, for sharing his extraordinary knowledge and for his friendship. There is no better way to honour their legacy than through continued research that advances our understanding of Earth’s treasures."

During a five-decade career at GIA Moses led the grading laboratories and research efforts, co‑authored more than 100 technical articles for Gems & Gemology and other peer‑reviewed journals, and received GIA’s Richard T. Liddicoat Award for Distinguished Achievement in 2002. He was elected to GIA’s board of governors in 2013 and will relinquish that board role when he departs the institute at the end of May.

One industry account credited Moses with driving GIA’s international expansion, building the network cited as ten laboratories and seven schools in ten countries; his work is widely credited with sharpening grading rigor and consolidating research discipline across GIA’s global operations. GIA President and CEO Pritesh Patel framed that contribution in personal terms: "The rigor Tom brought to grading, the discipline he brought to science, the unwavering focus he brought to our customers and the humility he brought to leadership reflect the very best of what we aspire to be," Patel said. "His lasting legacy lives in the standards he helped shape and the generations of professionals he guided and inspired."

As GIA prepares for Moses’s departure, the institute has signaled internal continuity: last August it appointed Sriram "Ram" Natarajan senior vice president of laboratory operations, a move cited in industry reporting as part of broader succession planning. Moses’s exit closes a chapter that began with a 1976 Graduate Gemologist diploma and will end with an emeritus title in May 2026, leaving a clear institutional imprint on grading standards, research publications, and GIA’s global laboratory footprint.