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Suzanne Russo Adams, MA, AG^®, was born and raised near Los Angeles, California and is an Associate Professor of family history and the Director of the Center for Family History and Genealogy at BYU (https://cfhg.byu.edu/) . She joined the history faculty in June 2024. Suzanne graduated from BYU with a BA in Family History/Genealogy and a BS in Sociology in 1998. She completed an MA in History at BYU in 2008. Suzanne has extensive experience in the genealogy industry, having worked for Ancestry.com for nearly 12 years. During her time at Ancestry.com, she focused on record strategy, acquisition, and content digitization, as well as public and community relations and conferences. She also worked for FamilySearch.org for over 13 years as a Senior Content Strategist, where she was responsible for record acquisition strategy in regions including the United States, Latin America, Southern Europe, the Adriatic, Australia/New Zealand, and the Pacific Isles.

Suzanne has held various leadership positions within the genealogical community. She has served as a board member for the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA), and as a commissioner for the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Additionally, Suzanne was a lead researcher for the first season of NBC’s "Who Do You Think You Are?" and is credited for her work on the Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields episodes.

She is the author of "Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide" (Ancestry, 2008) and a contributing author to "The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy," 3rd edition (2006), and "Becoming an Excellent Genealogist: Essays on Professional Research Skills" (2012).

Geographic Specialities
Italy, Southern European

Additional specialities or search keywords
Italy, Italian, Sicilian

Publications/Media
Adams, Suzanne Russo. "On the Frontier: Ancestry's 1890 Census Substitute." Ancestry Daily News (30 March 2000).


. "Italian Research" Ancestry Magazine (May-June 2001): 34-40.



. "1930 Census: Questions and Answers." Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, (March 2002): 13-18.


. "Lessons Learned in Italian Archives: What to Know Before You Go." Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, (June 2002): 21-25.


. Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide. Provo, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 2008.


. "Coexistence and Conflict: Popular Catholicism, the Council of Trent and the Lifecycle in Carini, Palermo, Italy." MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 2008.


Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Matthew Wright. Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records. Provo, UT: Myfamily.com, Inc., 2001. Suzanne Russo, AG. "Using the Soundex-A Case Study", 66-67.

Lectures

Beginning Italian Family History

Italian Civil Registration

Reading the records in Latin

Italian Parish Records

Southern European Research Online

Italian Research Online
 

Research Time Periods

• 19th Century
• 18th Century
• 17th Century
• 16th Century and Earlier

Languages
Italian, Latin, English, Spanish, Classical Hebrew

Honorifics/Credentials
AG®

Affiliations
National Genealogical Society

Utah Genealogical Association

International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGEN)

St. Louis Genealogical Society

New England Historic Genealogical Society

Order Sons of Italy in America

Degrees
MA (European History), BS (Sociology), BA (Family History/Genealogy)