Shirley Riemer Lifetime Achievement Award: Herr Dr. Thomas Aigner, Austrian historian, is a senior staff member of the St. Pölten Diocesan Archives, and a  member of the International Centre for Archival Research (ICARUS), and the Time Machine Organization. Several initiatives and projects in the field of digitizing historical sources can be traced to Herr Dr. Aigner, including the all-important free database Matricula-Online created in 2009, and his work at the Austrian archive portal Archiv.net starting in 2011. Herr Dr. Aigner has made it his life’s work to make so many important records and resources available to the public, in many cases free of charge. As a result, the genealogy world owes Herr Dr. Aigner a great debt of gratitude.

Most Valuable Person to IGGP: Ingeborg Carpenter’s heart, vision, and leadership helped bring this organization into existence and nurture it into what it is today. She was one of the co-signers of the original founding document in June 2015, co-chaired the 2nd conference in Sacramento, was elected our first president when the board was created in 2017, and served with grace, strength, and unwavering commitment until the end of 2023. Throughout that time, Ingeborg was more than a leader. She was a unifier, a mentor, and a friend, and even after stepping down as president, she continues to serve as a trusted advisor — always encouraging, always cheering others on.

Excellent Service Award: Nancy Meyers and Kent Robinson,  whose collaborative work has provided genealogists around the world with a powerful and accessible research tool in the German Genealogy Resource Map. What makes this map so valuable is its thoughtful design and depth of content. It highlights not just locations — but critical institutions and organizations: state archives, church archives, genealogical societies, historical associations, and libraries. It helps genealogists discover resources they might never have found otherwise, opening new doors in their research journeys. And the project is far from finished. In fact, it is designed to grow. This project exemplifies what IGGP stands for: collaboration, accessibility, and the global spirit of genealogy. It is a living, evolving tool that will serve researchers for years to come.

Conference Most Valuable Person: John Harder, president of the Palatines to America German Genealogy Society, and host partner for the 2025 IGGP conference. Even though there were several setbacks and detours in planning the conference, John guided the Steering Committee successfully through them all. We are grateful and appreciative for all the hard work, and we sincerely thank John and his team for a very successful fifth IGGP conference.