Thomas W. Jones to deliver the Houston Memorial Lecture

Posted by conference on July 24, 2009 under Blog: New Postings, Pro/Advanced Stream, Speakers and Program | Be the First to Comment

We are thrilled to announce that one of North America’s most highly respected—and honoured—genealogists will deliver the Houston Memorial Lecture at Conference 2010. Thomas W. Jones, a genealogical educator involved in family history research personally and professionally since 1964, will present this marquee lecture to formally open OGS Conference 2010 on the evening of Friday, May 14.

His credentials are legion. Let’s start with his post-nominal letters:

  • PhD: OK, that one was easy—Dr. Jones is a retired professor of education at Gallaudet University, the world leader in liberal education and career development for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduate students
  • CG, CGL: Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Lecturer, as credentialed by the Board for Certification of Genealogists
  • FASG: Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists (a lifelong honour limited to 50 individuals at any one time)
  • FNGS: Fellow of the National Genealogical Society, an honour conferred this past May
  • FUGA: Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association

    Thomas W. Jones, who will present the Houston Memorial Lecture at the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2010 in Toronto

    Thomas W. Jones, who will present the Houston Memorial Lecture at the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2010 in Toronto

As to his service to the genealogy community, Dr. Jones is:

  • editor of the NGS Quarterly (the journal of the National Genealogical Society)
  • a former trustee and past president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists
  • a trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)

In addition to elected fellowships, Dr. Jones has received the following awards:

  • APG’s Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit (2004)
  • the National Genealogical Society Award for Excellence for an essay in the NGS Quarterly (1997) explaining how name variations, a common surname, misinformation in a death certificate, census inconsistencies, and an altered record were overcome to connect a Florida family to its Virginia forebears
  • the same award (2002)—he is one of only two people to win twice—for an article demonstrating and explaining how to piece together indirect evidence to reconstruct a lineage in eighteenth-century Ireland

Altogether Dr. Jones has contributed fourteen articles to NGSQ, ten of which have dealt with analyzing difficult genealogical problems and developing sound conclusions.

Dr. Jones is on the staff at the Samford Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, where every summer he coordinates the genealogical writing course. He taught the 2009 course on skill building for the professional at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and in 2010 he will coordinate the course on advanced genealogical methods. He has spoken at myriad conferences about genealogical evidence, proof and problem-solving

At Conference 2010, his theme for the Houston Lecture will be “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists”.

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