Tom Overton, G.G. Photo by Melissa Jacobs/GIA

He is currently AESE's vice president, in charge of program planning for the 2008 annual meeting; his second year of service will be spent as president, overseeing AESE's operations and coordinating memberships and activities of the various committees; and his third year will be as past president, recruiting members of committees and candidates for the board positions.

Overton said he is honored by the election because it comes from an organization that has been around since the 1960s and counts representatives of all the major earth science organizations among its members.

"One of the things I'm hoping to accomplish in this new role is to help raise the profile of gemology as one of the earth sciences," said Overton, an AESE member since 2002.

Overton joined the G&G staff in 2002 after studying English and law and working in the legal profession.