2021 Summer Seminar

Tom has edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly since 2002. He is author of Mastering Genealogical Proof, a popular textbook on genealogical assessment and reasoning. He has been tracing his family history since 1963. Tom is a recipient of the Association of Professional Genealogists 2011 Professional Achievement Award and its 2004 Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit. Retired from a thirty-year career in higher education and professor emeritus at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

Tom works full time as a genealogical researcher, writer, editor, and educator. He coordinates courses at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and the Institute on Genealogy and Historical Research. Tom’s research has encompassed records of every state east of the Mississippi, as well as Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, England, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Wales. He specializes, however, in Georgia, the Midwest, and Virginia and is most interested in solving “brick-wall” genealogical problems.

Tom writes and speaks frequently on genealogical methods with broad application across geographic areas, time periods, and levels of expertise. He is known for meaty lectures benefiting genealogists of all experience levels. Audiences typically leave his lectures understanding that genealogical research can be more challenging than they had thought, but also that it can be much more fun.