Executive Committee
President
Tahitia Mccabe University of Strathclyde
Tahitia McCabe, PG Dip (Genealogical Studies), MLS, QG, FHEA, FRSA, is the Head of the Strathclyde Institute of Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde. She holds an MLS from Syracuse University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Genealogical, Paleographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. Her research interests include immigration, social networks and American and British genealogy. She is currently a PhD candidate working on a study of Americans in Scotland, 1850-1900.
President Elect
Kelli Allen
Brigham Young University
Kelli Allen, MSc, QG, is an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University. She holds a BS in Business Management (Finance) from BYU and an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic, and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. She is a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists. Her specialties include English, Scottish, and Australian family history research and early 19th-century emigration. She developed the curriculum for BYU’s first Australian, New Zealand, and Polynesian Family History course and enjoys helping students develop a love for genealogical research.
Secretary
Fiona Fitzsimons
Trinity College Dublin
Fiona Fitzsimons is an adjunct instructor in Trinity College Dublin, teaching a two-year course in Irish Family and Social History. She is a co-founder of Eneclann, a Trinity College Dublin campus company, and the Irish Family History Centre in EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. Since 1996 she has led the Eneclann research team. Under her guidance, their research output is a benchmark in Family History in Ireland and internationally. Between 2012 and 2017, she implemented the Genealogical Advisory Service in the National Library of Ireland and introduced the popular Summer talks series. Between 2014 and 2020, she convened the monthly Expert Workshops to provide support and continuous professional development for Family Historians. She writes for History Ireland Magazine, and Irish Lives Remembered.
Treasurer
Jill Crandell
Brigham Young University
Through the years, Jill has served in several volunteer positions in the genealogy community. Some of these positions include founding commissioner, president, commissioner, treasurer, and executive secretary of ICAPGen; director, assistant director, course coordinator, and instructor of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy; and director, treasurer, and secretary of the Utah Genealogical Association. Jill’s greatest interest is in teaching and working with university students as they learn genealogy research skills and then move into the profession.
Past President
Jacques du Plessis
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jacques du Plessis, PhD, has been on the faculty of the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee since 2002. He holds a PhD in Instructional Technology and teaches the Genealogy course in the Masters of Library and Information Science program. His experience in Genealogy is directed at the USA and South Africa. He is the co-founder of the Disruptive Technologies Lab. The mission of the lab is to explore how new technologies may disrupt existing practices.
Board Members
Amy Harris
Brigham Young University
Amy Harris, PhD, AG®, is the current Family History Program Coordinator at Brigham Young University. She has published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, in the Genealogists’ Magazine, and on the history of genealogical practices. Her historical research focuses on families, women, and gender in eighteenth-century Britain. Her first book, Siblinghood and Social Relations in Georgian England (Manchester, 2012) explored sibling relationships and their connections to political and social ideas of equality. Her forthcoming work, A Single View: Family Life and the Unmarried in Georgian England (Oxford, 2023) is a case study of family life from the perspective of those who do not marry, marry late, or do not have children. Amy is a tenured professor in the BYU Department of History where she teaches history and family history/genealogy courses.
Graham Holton
University of Strathclyde
Graham S Holton, BA, MCLIP, FHEA, LRAM, LTCL, FSA Scot, has had a lifelong interest in family history which eventually developed into a second career following many years as a professional librarian. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and holds a postgraduate diploma in librarianship from the Robert Gordon Institute of Technology, Aberdeen. As one of the original members of staff involved in the development of the postgraduate courses in genealogical studies at the University of Strathclyde, which began in 2007, he is currently Lead Tutor for the MSc dissertation level of the Course, within the Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies. Particular areas of interest are medieval genealogy and genetic genealogy. His involvement in the latter has included leading the Battle of Bannockburn and Declaration of Arbroath Family History Projects, editing Tracing your ancestors using DNA and responsibility for the genetic genealogy research activities undertaken by the University.
Benjamin Hollister
Lutheran Church of Australia Archivist
Ben Hollister (History Helper) is a qualified librarian, adult educator and historian. He’s a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and was previously a Member of the
Association of Community Directors Australia. Ben holds a Graduate Diploma in Local, Family and Applied History from University of New England (Australia). He currently teaches family history programs at the Workers Educational Association in South Australia.
Todd Knowles FamilySearch
W. Todd Knowles, AG®, has been at FamilySearch for almost 25 years, and serves as a Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer. One of his key projects at FamilySearch, to honour his own roots, was to create an online data-base of almost 1.5 million records, documenting eastern European Jews (knowlescollection.blogspot.com). Todd has served 4 years as president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Utah and is currently a Trustee of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH).
Barbara Ball
University of Strathclyde
Barbara Ball, PhD, is a professional genealogist and former GIS analyst. She currently works as a tutor in the University of Strathclyde’s Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies program. She’s a volunteer mentor for the NGS Advanced Skills in Genealogy program. Barbara completed her Ph.D. in History at the University of Strathclyde in 2021. She was certified by the RQG in 2022 and does some pro bono work.
Michael McCormick
BYU-Idaho
Michael W. McCormick, MSc, AG®, has been involved with AGES since the first conference in 2020, and the BYU-Idaho Family History Research
program since it was pioneered and has taught 20+ semesters for the program. He’s a doctoral candidate through Middle Tennessee State University’s Public History program, and a graduate of the University of Strathclyde’s genealogy MSc program. Michael is experienced
in working with boards and volunteering on committees for genealogical and historical
organizations. He holds an ICAPGen credential since 2015.