Richard T. Liddicoat
| Richard T. Liddicoat, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 2, 1918 Kearsarge, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | July 23, 2002 (aged 84) Santa Monica, California |
| Occupation | Gemologist, Chairman of its Board of Governors at GIA |
| Known for | Father of Modern Gemology |
Richard T. Liddicoat, Jr. (March 2, 1918– July 23, 2002) was an American gemologist. Liddicoat was an educator in gemology, who also made contributions in the area of diamond quality grading and gem identification. Liddicoat was the Chairman of its Board of Governors at GIA.
On March 2, 1918, Liddiocoat was born as Richard Thomas Liddiocoat, Jr. in Kearsarge, Michigan to Richard T. and Carmen Beryl (Williams) Liddiocoat. Liddiocoat's grandfathers were miners and immigrants from England.
In 1939, Liddicoat earned a bachelor's degree in geology from University of Michigan. In 1940, Liddicoat earned a master's degree in mineralogy from University of Michigan.
On June 28, 1940, Liddiocoat joins the staff of GIA as an Assistant Director of Education. About a year later, in Fall 1941, Liddiocoat helped develop the Diamolite, and also published, alongside Shipley, his first article for Gems & Gemology; "A Solution to Diamond Color Grading Problems".
After serving in the United States Navy during WWII, he returned to GIA as Director of Research in February 1946. 18 months later, he published his first edition of the Handbook of Gem Identification. In the next year, he was named Assistant Director of GIA, and in 1949, named director of GIA New York and GIA Gem Trade Laboratory.
In April 1952, he was also named executive director of GIA, and then later assumes editorship of Gems & Gemology. Exactly a year later, April 1953, he officially introduces the GIA diamond grading system as part of a new educational class in New York. Successfully, the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory issues its first Diamond Grading Reports. That led him to co-author the first edition of The Diamond Dictionary, in 1960. That also led him to devise the "rapid sight" system for estimating diamond cutting quality. He also later co-authors the first edition of The Jeweler's Manual.
In the new decade, in 1970, Liddiocoat launches a series of extension education classes in Israel taught by Glenn Nord, making GIA's first global outreach. Further expanding that outreach, in Japan, he launches the first GIA gemology courses in the following year. He then receives the 1976 American Gem Society's Robert M. Shipley Award, and creates the GIA Research Department under the leadership of Dr. D. Vincent Manson.
...
Wikipedia