Stanley M. Diamond is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal (B. Commerce '54) and Harvard University, Boston (MBA '58). He is Founding President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal and the winner of the 2002 IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award. His interest in genealogical research was related to genetics and ultimately led to the creation of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland), of which he is the Executive Director. He acts as the genealogist for the international team doing research related to his family's novel mutation of the beta-thalassemia genetic trait and is co-author of a scientific paper related to the project. As part of his research he is documenting the rare incidence of the trait in Ashkenazi Jewish families of the Diaspora. Lecturer and author of many articles, Diamond's journey in the world of family history research and the many paths on which it has taken him were featured in an episode of a documentary series "Past Lives" on Canadian television in 2005.