ALUMNI NEWS NOTES

Bryan Keyt: Environmental Attorney in Chicago with Bell, Boyd & Lloyd. (submitted '96)

Debbie Kopff: I have been working for Regis University for the past year. I am responsible for the advertising and marketing of the M.B.A. program. I am still interested in geology, and I may consider applying to the Colorado School of Mines in the next few years. (submitted '96)

Wendi Mayerson: After graduation I got a job working for a diamond wholesaler in NYC; after all, diamonds are just another mineral. After a year, I moved up in the jewelry industry and managed the inventory for the US office of the Swiss/German jewelry company Chopard. A desire to get back in touch with minerals drove me to the Gemological Institute of America's main campus in Santa Monica, CA (www.gia.edu)in 1992. I took the resident program and became a Graduate Gemologist (GG) which is a person who can grade and identify diamonds, as well as colored stones, for the jewelry industry. Upon graduating in 1993, I was offered a position as an instructor at the school. I became manager of the department in 1996 & moved with the school to a newly built campus in Carlsbad, CA.

In 2000, I switched divisions and joined GIA's Gem Trade Laboratory in NYC where I still work today. Assigned to the Gem Identification Dept., I get to test & identify the world's most important & beautiful colored gemstones. Knowing whether a stone has been treated greatly effects it's value & is part of our identification process. I also have the privilege of testing the world's best colored diamonds to check & see if their color is natural or the result of treatment.

One of my favorite parts of my job is writing for our world reknowned publication "Gems & Gemology". I have also been published in the British Journal of Gemmology. So, still working with rocks, I am having a blast! (submitted 6/03)