Richard T. Liddicoat, our leader and patriarch for more than 60 years, devoted his life to uncovering the mysteries of gemstones and sharing those discoveries with our students and the international gemological community.

He wanted to help working jewelers solve gemological problems and position them as experts who could explain not only the allure and beauty of gemstones – but also their intrinsic properties - to their customers. He wanted the buying public to love and appreciate gemstones as much as he did and, more importantly, know they could trust they were getting what they paid for when they did business with a professionally trained gemologist.

The values he stood for – integrity, respect, authenticity and going the extra mile to help someone – continue to influence the way we do business every day.  A special section of the corporate site www.gia.edu/about-gia/liddicoat will feature biographical information about RTL, as well as links to bibliographies, additional G&G articles, photographs, and a video of his life.