Five American FGA scholarships awarded by EGL USA & National Jeweler at Jany show

NEW YORK, July 28 - At an Awards presentation today at the JANY Show at Jacob Javitts Center, EGL USA gemological laboratory and National Jeweler magazine announced the five winners of the 2002 American FGA Scholarship Awards they co-sponsored. Trade show visitors were invited to attend the wine and cheese reception to meet the recipients, the American FGA Scholarship Advisory Board, which selected the winners, and representatives from GemA, the Gemological Association of Great Britain.Four of the scholarships were awarded to individuals working within the industry; a fifth was presented to a student studying gemology at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City.

The industry recipients are Judith Anderson, GG, CGA, designer and owner of a jewelry gallery called Bijoux Extraordinaire in Manchester, NH; Kathleen Donovan, GG, store manager, The Collector, and President, GIA Alumni Association, San Diego; Laura Haas, GG, who has her own appraisal firm, Haas & Co., LLC, in Fishers, IN; Leslie Scott, GG, CGA, sales associate/business coordinator, Smith & Bevill Jewelers, Beaverton, OR. The student American FGA Scholarship recipient is Michelle Szymojko, of Staten Island, NY, who will be a junior at FIT, majoring in jewelry design.

Page two/American FGA Scholarship AwardsThe American FGA Scholarship Advisory Board is comprised of prominent industry experts, including Mark Gershburg, Director, EGL USA; Whitney Sielaff, Publisher,
National Jeweler; Michael Coan, Acting Chair, Jewelry Design Department, FIT; George E. Harlow, Curator of Minerals and Gems, American Museum of Natural History; Kathryn Bonanno Patrizzi, FGA, gem dealer and Antiquorum consultant; and Richard W. Hughes, FGA, webmaster for Palagems.com.

The FGA diploma is given by the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, the oldest association in the world devoted to the study of gemology. It is considered to be the highest scholarship degree in the gemological world. Only 213 Americans currently hold that degree, according to Terry Davidson, CEO of GemA, the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, who attended the awards presentation along with Anne Dale, Director of GemA USA.

The scholarships are for a correspondence course, which typically lasts two years and culminates in an intensive two-day test, according to EGL USA's Mark Gershburg. "As a leading U.S. gemological lab, we have a responsibility to our industry to encourage and support the development of new talent," said Mr. Gershburg.