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Professor of Artificial Intelligence Among Additions to GIA Board of Governors
Lake Dai, who teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, joins the board alongside Rosy Blue Managing Director Russell Mehta.
GIA’s Board of Governors met in November at GIA headquarters in Carlsbad, California. They are, pictured from left, seated: Barbara A. Sawrey, Tammy Storino, Stephen F. Kahler, Lisa A. Locklear, Dione D. Kenyon, Thomas H. Insley, Barbara Lee Dutrow, and Elliot Tannenbaum. Standing in the back, from left, are: Susan M. Jacques, Dave Bindra, Lawrence Ma, Lake Dai, Kiko Harvey, John W. Valley, Jeffery E. Post, Samantha F. Ravich, Robert Andrew “Andy” Johnson, Tom Moses, and Marcus ter Haar. New board member Russell Mehta is not pictured.
Carlsbad, Calif.—The Gemological Institute of America has added two new members to its board of governors and named a new chair and vice chair.
Technology expert Lake Dai, adjunct professor of applied artificial intelligence (AI) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and Russell Mehta, managing director of Rosy Blue (India) Pvt. have joined the board.
Dai is a seasoned technology venture investor and senior executive with 20 years’ experience at companies including Alibaba and Yahoo!, as well as a number of tech startups.
Mehta has been in the diamond business for nearly four decades, helping to grow Rosy Blue from a family business to a company now represented in more than 14 countries.
Lisa Locklear, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Avanir Pharmaceuticals and a governor since 2012, became board chair at the conclusion of the board’s November meeting.
Serving alongside her as vice chair is Stephen Kahler, senior advisor of strategic planning and business development for Everidge and a governor since 2016.
Commenting on the addition of Dai and Mehta, Locklear said: “Lake and Russell bring a wealth of experience that will complement and diversify the board’s strengths.”
In addition, four governors retired from the board: previous Chair Dione Kenyon, former president and CEO Of the Jewelers Board of Trade who retired from JBT in 2016; previous Vice Chair Thomas Insley, CFO at Dermata Therapeutics; Barbara Sawrey, dean emerita and distinguished professor emerita at the University of California San Diego; and Elliot Tannenbaum, senior principal of Leo Schachter Diamond Group.
GIA’s board of governors is designed to provide strategic direction to the institute.
There are 16 individuals on the board, a mix of leaders from the jewelry industry, academics in relevant scientific fields, and experts in technology, business, finance, consumer brands, retail, and risk management.
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