Ms. Leary is a professional genealogist with more than twenty-five year? experience and a featured speaker at NGS, FCS and state conferences. She is a past-president of the BCG; a former trustee of the APG; a founding member of the GSG; and editor of and contributing author to North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History (2nd edition, 1996) and contributing author to Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians (2000). Leary has received numerous awards for her service to the genealogical community, including the NGS Award of Merit in 1987, the North Carolina Genealogical Societ?s Award for Exceptional Service in 1987 and 1998, the BCG Outstanding Service Award (2002), the APG Graham T. Smallwood Award (2003), and the Institut?s own Outstanding IGHR Alumni Award in 1996.

The title of her lecture is "The Myth, the Magic and Reality of Family History Research."