GIA has named Tawfic Farah to the new role of vice president of International Operations, effective June 1. Farah will report directly to Donna Baker, president of GIA, and will be responsible for international activities at the Institute. Farah returns to GIA, where he worked to develop international relationships from 2001 to 2004, from the Dubai Multi-Commodities Commission (DMCC). He served as the executive director for Diamonds and Colored Stones and as a project leader for government relations with numerous diamond-producing countries. He also established trading platforms for diamonds, colored stones and pearls.

He has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Nebraska, and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Comparative Development and International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles.