Utah Genealogy Assosiation Fellow Award (FUGA) 2023: Jill N. Crandell

 The Utah Genealogical Association Fellow Award is given in recognition of those living individuals whose distinguished contributions and ongoing commitment to the field of genealogy are of national or international scope. This may be evidenced by any combination of publications, teaching and speaking, or leadership of major genealogical organizations over a significant period of time. We are excited to recognize Jill N. Crandell, AG with the UGA Fellow Award.

Jill is a well-known teacher, speaker, author, and leader. She is a pioneer in creating and leading genealogical organizations. She was one of the three founding commissioners of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, or ICAPGen, and she has served as ICAPGen’s president, commissioner, executive secretary, treasurer, and conference committee member. Jill was also a founding director and treasurer of the international organization, the Association of Genealogy Educators and Schools, or AGES.

Jill has been instrumental in her service to the Utah Genealogical Association and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She served as SLIG director in 2000-2001 and assistant SLIG director in 1999. She has been UGA’s treasurer, executive secretary, recording secretary, and board member.

For nearly twenty years, Jill has been a faculty member of the Brigham Young University History Department. During that time, she has served on scholarship committees and the Student Mentoring and Recruitment Committee, supervised student internships, and served as Director of the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University for the past twelve years.

In addition to teaching at BYU, Jill has taught at the National Genealogical Society Conference, the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, SLIG’s Academy for Professionals, family history conferences at BYU and BYU-Idaho, ICAPGen’s annual conference, the LDS Women’s Conference, the UGA annual conference, and RootsTech.

She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly journal, the NGS Magazine, and Genealogy magazine, and she wrote a chapter about the history of accreditation for the book Becoming an Excellent Genealogist: Essays on Professional Research Skills. She has presented papers at symposiums for the Mormon History Association and the Mormon Trail Center and the City of Council Bluffs.

Jill has been a spokesperson for genealogy on news and radio stations, including KBYU, KUTV, KSL TV, KSL Newsradio, and Fox 13. She has also been involved in the management, design, and programming for at least eight different websites. She is the developer and president of ResearchTies, LLC, which is an online genealogy research log.

 Jill's work has influenced countless genealogists, increased credibility for the genealogy profession, and fostered public awareness of the positive impact of genealogy research.

Chapter Service Award 2023: Michael Strauss, AG

 

The Chapter Service Award is given in recognition of outstanding service to or for a UGA Chapter. This year, the Utah Genealogical Association is pleased to present the Chapter Service Award to Michael Strauss, AG, who recently retired as co-chair of UGA’s Virtual Chapter.

The Virtual Chapter meets monthly over Zoom and is open to all UGA members. This unique chapter allows UGA members throughout the state and country to gather and learn. 

Michael Strauss began his service on the UGA Board in 2017 and served as a board member for five years, until 2022. During this entire time, he served within UGA’s Virtual Chapter in some capacity or another. He was assistant committee chair in 2017 and 2018 and a committee chair from 2018 through 2022. Michael organized a virtual chapter meeting every month for its members. Under his leadership, the Virtual Chapter has grown in numbers and become a place where genealogists from all over the country and beyond can network, learn, and grow together.

Michael is an Accredited Genealogist and works as a Research Manager for Ancestry ProGenealogists in Lehi, Utah. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and is a published author, in addition to being a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. He is a court qualified expert witness in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in matters of forensic investigation. Michael has been a faculty member for several years at SLIG, GRIP, and IGHR where he coordinates the military research courses. 

Award of Merit 2023: Gena Philibert-Ortega

 

For the outstanding service that Gena Philibert-Ortega has given to the Utah Genealogical Association we are please to recognize her with UGA's Award of Merit.

UGA presents the Award of Merit to Gena for her many years serving as the editor of UGA’s Crossroads magazine. She first joined the Crossroads committee in April 2011 and, within a few months, became Crossroads editor for the June issue. Continuing through the Summer 2022 issue, she led as the editor for forty-four issues. Over that time, Crossroads evolved and included themed issues, such as issues focusing on the Civil War, food, and youth, added papers from the annual Colloquium, and began the section “Crossroads for Kids.” Gena’s favorite thing about being an editor was the ability to give new writers the opportunity to be published. Her writers spanned from teenagers to retirees looking to start a new career in genealogy. In addition, she has served on the UGA Board and has taught and coordinated several courses for SLIG. Gena's overall contributions to Crossroads and UGA in general have been immeasurable.

Outside of her service with UGA, Gena is an author, researcher, and instructor focusing on genealogy, social history, and women’s history. She holds two Master’s degrees: in interdisciplinary studies (psychology and women’s study) and in religion. Her published works include two books, numerous articles published in print and online, and six editions of the Tracing Your Ancestors series from Moorshead Publishing. Her writings can be found on her blogs: Gena’s Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera, as well as on the GenealogyBank and Legacy Webinars blogs. She has presented to diverse groups worldwide, including through the Legacy Family Tree Webinar series.  Her current research includes women’s repatriation and citizenship in the twentieth century, foodways and community in fundraising cookbooks, and women’s material culture.

UGA Awards FUGA to Angela Packer McGhie

 

We are also pleased to announce the UGA Fellow for 2021. This award recognizes one “whose distinguished contributions and on-going commitment to the field of Genealogy are of national or international scope, this award may be evidenced by any combination of publications, teaching, and speaking, or the leadership of major genealogical organizations over a significant period of time.”

In addition to these strictly outlined qualifications, the UGA Board of Directors felt strongly about this year’s Fellow for another reason. The slogan, “Premier Genealogical Education,” utilized by UGA, demonstrates our core values and goals as a society. Many of you have been recipients of these efforts, none more clearly than the students who have attended SLIG these past few weeks. Our Fellow this year is someone who has been an ally in these goals and contributed tirelessly in her career to uphold and promote the ideals of “Premier Genealogical Education” in her every effort. The UGA Board of Directors is pleased to award the UGA Fellow to Angela Packer McGhie.

Angela has a passion for teaching genealogy. She has been a continued partner with UGA in these efforts for many years, having presented for UGA Webinars, coordinated and instructed for SLIG, and served on the advisory committee. In 2011, Angela changed the SLIG experience by pioneering and coordinating the Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum which will run for its tenth consecutive year this fall. In 2018, the Practicum became the first virtual SLIG course, again steering a new path for both SLIG and UGA to bring quality education to genealogists everywhere. Angela also coordinates The Art of Writing Research Reports course for SLIG Academy.

Beyond UGA, Angela’s efforts to support genealogical education have reached across our community. She coordinates additional courses for the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research, instructs at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh and Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, and speaks numerous national and regional conferences.

Angela is known for her leadership in educational programs. She served as the administrator of the ProGen Study Group from 2010 to 2016 and continues to serve on the board of directors. She is now the Education Director for the National Genealogical Society, the vice president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, trustee for the BCG Education Fund, and is past President of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Angela has truly dedicated herself to the cause of genealogical education and her years of effort and service have changed the face of education in our community. Her actions and energy in promoting these goals reflect not only excellent genealogical work but have been done with a sense of service, deep humility, and a kindness of spirit. She has been a champion of quality, obtainable programs that have enhanced the skills, lives, and research of myriads of genealogists. We are proud to award her the Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association.

Congratulatons!

UGA Distinguished Service Award to Kelly Summers

 

The UGA Distinguished service award “is granted for outstanding service to the Association.” Tonight, we would like to present this honor to UGA’s current president: Kelly Summers.

Kelly has been a stalwart leader and advocate for UGA. In her role she has sought to participate in, enhance, and bring forward new UGA programs and educational opportunities. Kelly has championed better compensation to our webinar presenters and Crossroad’s magazine contributors. She envisioned and developed a new webinar series for aspiring professional genealogists, the Genealogy ProTalk webinar is now one of UGA’s month offerings. Under her leadership the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has continued to grow and offer more expansive advanced education opportunities, including Kelly’s recent coordination of the Chinese Ancestry course.

Kelly has served on the executive committee for the past 5 years and has been president of UGA for the past 4 years. During her time, we have seen immense growth in membership and offerings. She has also demonstrated quality leadership and sound judgement. She has counseled with and guided the UGA board through tough discussions and challenging decisions and helped us to enhance the goal of offering premier genealogical education.

Beyond UGA, Kelly is an Accredited Genealogist through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists in the US Midwestern, US Pacific, Mexico, and Spain regions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Family and Community History from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah. Kelly designs curriculum and teaches university courses at Brigham Young University and Salt Lake Community College. Kelly continues to support genealogy education inside and out of UGA, and the board of directors is honored to grant her this distinguished award.

UGA Chapter Service Award to Zachary Hamilton

 

The Chapter Service Award is given in recognition of outstanding service to or for a UGA chapter. The award was created in 1999, and has been given only eight times since

Tonight we would like to honor one who has dedicated countless hours to ensuring the success of our UGA local chapters, Zachary Hamilton.

Zachary spearheaded the renewal of the Salt Lake City Chapter and grew it from a few periodic attendees to a thriving community that met monthly at the Family History Library. After serving for a year as Salt Lake City Chapter President, he was elected to the UGA Board of Directors and became co-chair of the Chapter Support Committee. Zachary designed an annual multi-chapter event which is now held every November, and has assisted the individual chapters in marketing, technical support, training, acquiring speakers, budgeting, and other activities. His service has been invaluable, especially as we have transitioned to holding chapter meetings online during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Zachary is the owner of Briick Family Research. A specialist in Southern US research and military records, Zachary has worked for and contracted with some of the leading genealogy companies in the world, including Ancestry.com and The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Zachary has also been a contributing researcher to the Emmy-nominated television series, Who Do You Think You Are?

In addition to his research experience, Zachary is a lecturer at regional conferences across the country, including RootsTech and has been a guest speaker for genealogy courses at Brigham Young University - Idaho and at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Zachary currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Utah Genealogical Association and as Registrar for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Zachary is a member of the Utah Genealogical Association and Association of Professional Genealogists.

We are pleased to honor Zachary for his dedication to our UGA chapters.

Congratulations!