Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak,Sam Roberts

''The New York Times'', September 14, 2006. born October 9, is an American genealogist, author, and speaker. She is also a consultant for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

Education

Smolenyak holds a BSFS in Foreign Service from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, an MBA in International Business from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and an MAS in Information Technology from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Career

Genealogy work

Since 1999, she has been a consultant with the U.S. Army's repatriation efforts to locate the families of soldiers still unaccounted for from World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.Joseph A. Gambardello
"Haddonfield genealogist helped Army identify remains of airman killed in 1946"
''Philadelphia Inquirer,'' December 31, 2012. As a genealogist, she is best known for unearthing celebrity roots,"Megan Smolenyak Articles on The Huffington Post"
''Huffington Post'' conducting forensic research for coroners, police departments, NCIS and the FBI, and championing the use of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

testing to learn about one’s ancestry. She researched

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

's family tree, researched Annie Moore, the first immigrant through

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

, traced

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's roots to

Moneygall Moneygall () is a village in County Offaly, bordering County Tipperary, in Ireland. It is situated on the R445 road between Dublin and Limerick. There were 374 people living in the village as of the 2022 census. Moneygall has a Catholic church ...

, Ireland, and discovered that

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptists, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rig ...

’s great-grandfather had been owned by relatives of

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...

. She also found out that Joe Biden is "roughly five-eighths Irish". She, herself, is of Irish and Rusyn heritage with roots in Ireland, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine. Formerly Chief Family Historian for

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

, she also founded Unclaimed Persons. She is nicknamed the ''"Indiana Jones of Genealogy"''. She is a former board member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).

Author

Smolenyak has authored six books. She has written articles for ''Ancestry'', ''Family Chronicle'', '' Family Tree Magazine'', ''Irish America'', ''Genealogical Computing'', ''Heritage Quest'', ''NGS NewsMagazine'', ''Everton's Family History Magazine'', and ''APG Quarterly''. Smolenyak is also a ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' contributor. Smolenyak conducted research and wrote the companion book for the U.S. version of ''Who Do You Think You Are?.''

Speaker and consultant

Smolenyak has also consulted for and appeared on CBS's ''The Early Show'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', the ''Today Show'', ''Top Chef'' (Bravo), CNN, ESPN, ''BBC Breakfast'', ''African American Lives'', PBS's ''Ancestors'', ''TimeWatch'', ''They Came to America'', ''Who Do You Think You Are?,'' ''Faces of America'', ''Finding Your Roots,'' NuvoTV, NPR, BBC Radio, and local television and radio shows, and has spoken at the

National Genealogical Society The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is a genealogical interest group founded in 1903 in Washington, D.C., United States, with over 10,000 members. Its headquarters are in Falls Church, Virginia. The goals of the organization are to promote gen ...

, Federation of Genealogical Societies,

Who Do You Think You Are Live? Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE was a large family history and genealogy event. A spin-off of the television show, the event ran annually in London, England. From its inception in 2005 until it closed in 2017 the exhibition and surrounding eve ...

, Australasian Federation of Family History Organizations, and other historical, military, ethnic and literary events.

Awards

She was the winner of writing awards from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors and the Bo Peep Award, given by the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists. Smolenyak was awarded the 2010 NGS Award of Merit for her work in advancing responsible genealogy to a broad popular audience.

Works

*''In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History''. Cincinnati, OH: Adams Media Corporation, 2000. *''Honoring Our Ancestors: Inspiring Stories of the Quest for Our Roots''. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002. *''They Came to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors''. San Francisco, CA: Santa Fe Ventures, Inc., 2003. *''Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree''. (With Ann Turner). New York, NY: Rodale, 2004. *''Who Do You Think You Are? The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History''. Viking, 2010. *''Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing''. Kensington, 2012.

References

External links

Official website

Honoring Our Ancestors website

Megan Smolenyak on Facebook

Megan Smolenyak on the ''Huffington Post''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smolenyak Smolenyak, Megan Living people American genealogists Georgetown University alumni Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni American women historians American people of Ukrainian descent George Washington University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)