Michael J. Leclerc, CG, is a popular genealogical presenter, teacher, author, and editor. He got his start in genealogy thirty years ago when he first visited the American-French Genealogical Society. From 1995 through 2011 he served in various positions at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. he served in a variety of capacities from research services to the library to publications. He was responsible for the launch of two websites, bringing searchable databases from the Society’s collections to its members for the first time. He edited a number of books, including Genealogical Writing in the 21st Century: A Guide to Register Style and More, Second Edition, with Henry Hoff, and the fifth edition of the Society’s seminal guidebook Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research. He was a contributing editor for American Ancestors magazine, and a consulting editor for the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. In 2020 he became the managing editor of the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly.

In 2012 he joined Mocavo as Chief Genealogist, leaving in the summer of 2015. he worked with the development team to implement features of use to genealogists. He wrote about genealogical research and methodology for the Mocavo blog and made presentations around the world about how to use the website. He also hosted Mocavo Fireside Chat, interviewing leading genealogists about research and methodology and answering questions from Mocavo subscribers. In 2016 he started Genealogy Professor to provide high-quality genealogical education to family historians.

Michael has appeared as an expert for multiple news outlets.

He has authored numerous articles for scholarly journals and genealogy magazines. In 2018 he authored the chapter “Crafting Family Histories” in Professional Genealogy: Preperation, Practice, & Standards, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills. In 2019 he published Benjamin Franklin’s Family, Volume 1: English Ancestry, the first in a series of compiled genealogies of the family of the Revolutionary War patriot.

He has served on the boards of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and he is an associate of the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

Michael has presented at genealogical conferences, seminars, and institutes around the world.

Conferences include:

  • Association of Professional Genealogists’ Professional Management Conference
  • Federation of Genealogical Societies
  • GenTech
  • National Genealogical Society
  • RootsTech
  • Who Do You Think You Are? Live (UK) 

Institutes include:

  • Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh
  • Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy

 

For the past ten years he has also been part of the teaching team for Boston University’s online genealogy programs.