Press Release

GIA Appoints Katherine Palmer Andrews as Vice President of Global Compliance and Ethics

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Sept. 8, 2014 – GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has appointed Katherine Palmer Andrews to the newly-created position of vice president of Ethics and Compliance. Andrews has extensive experience developing enterprise compliance programs and leading global teams, including six years in chief compliance officer roles at General Electric Co. She will work with senior management to ensure the integrity of the Institute’s compliance and ethics programs.
 
“GIA has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the last two years in recognition of the excellent work that has gone into our compliance program. Katherine’s impressive skills and experience will help us build upon that success, ensuring that GIA continues as a leader in ethics and compliance,” said Susan Jacques, GIA’s president and CEO.
 
“It is paramount that we do our very best to ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry. I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues at GIA to build the Institute’s organizational capacity to meet the compliance challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. This will be my top priority,” added Andrews. 
 
Andrews has experience with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, in private practice and as an in-house attorney for GE Energy. She led the global compliance team at GE Energy for five years and was responsible for all legal and compliance aspects of the integration of a significant mining equipment and services company into GE Transportation. She joins GIA from Thomson Reuters, where she developed an enterprise-wide compliance program. Andrews is a founding member of the Chief Compliance Officers Forum in Atlanta and a board member of the Georgia Bar Antitrust Section. She holds a Doctor of Law (JD) degree from Duquense University School of Law and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University.
 
Andrews begins her tenure with GIA on Monday, Sept. 8. Based in New York, she will report to President and CEO Susan Jacques.

About GIA

An independent nonprofit organization, GIA (Gemological Institute of America), established in 1931, is recognized as the world’s foremost authority in gemology. GIA invented the famous 4Cs of Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat Weight in the early 1950s and in 1953, created the International Diamond Grading System™ which, today, is recognized by virtually every professional jeweler in the world.
 
Through research, education, gemological laboratory services, and instrument development, the Institute is dedicated to ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of integrity, academics, science, and professionalism.