Presenter Profile: J.H. Fonkert

J. H. (‘Jay”) Fonkert is a Certified Genealogist^SM specializing in Midwest and Dutch genealogy.

He is President of the Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS), as well as a genealogy author and educator. Jay teaches a Beginning Genealogy course in St. Paul (MN) Community Education, is a course coordinator and instructor in the MGS Intermediate Genealogy Course, and has been a Genealogy Help Desk consultant at the Minnesota Historical Society Library. He has lectured on census research, immigration, Dutch genealogy and other topics in Minnesota, Iowa, Florida and Ontario.

He has is a columnist for The Septs, the quarterly journal of the Irish Genealogical Society International and has published articles in Family Chronicle, Minnesota Generalogist, the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the NGS Magazine. Jay’s writing earned the 2009 Scholar Award from the American Society of Genealogists, and has three years running won 2^nd or 3^rd place in writing competitions sponsored by the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors.

He has studied advanced research methods and professional genealogy at the Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University and English genealogical research at the Salt Lake Genealogy Institute. He has also attended the National Institute for Genealogical Research in Washington, D.C.

He is a Director of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and a member of The Genealogical Speaker’s Guild and the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors.

A stubborn Dutchman, his favorite research topics come from his wife’s family, namely the Fawkners of mid-19^th century Kentucky and Indiana, and the Tidballs of Somerset and Devon, England. He also has done extensive research on Midwestern Dutch immigrants, and has tried his hand at Swedish and Norwegian research.

Outside genealogy, Jay’s volunteer service has included stints as Treasurer and President of Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota and as President of the Saint Paul District 1 Community Council. In his real world life, he is the Sr. Workforce Analyst in the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, in the Minnesota Department of Health.

A graduate of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Jay has M.A. degrees in Political Science and Public Affairs from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota, respectively, and has completed advanced geography coursework at the University of Minnesota.

Jay is teaching"Anatomy of a Genealogy Research Report: Adding Muscle and Flesh" on Saturday at 2:30 and has graciously