Vincent N. Parrillo is the author of numerous books and journal articles, some of them translated into ten languages. A professor of sociology at William Paterson University, he is a Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Senior Specialist. An internationally recognized expert on immigration, he is the author of two historical novels about Ellis Island: Guardians of the Gate and Defenders of Freedom. He is also the executive producer, writer, and narrator of four award-winning PBS television documentaries: Ellis Island: Gateway to America; Smokestacks and Steeples: A Portrait of Paterson; Gaetano Federici: The Sculptor Laureate of Paterson; and Paterson and Its People.Active in community theater, he is currently President of the Players Guild of Leonia, where he has directed numerous mainstage productions, as well as appearing in others, most recently as Johnny in Lovers and Other Strangers in September-October 2016. He also directed The Comedy of Errors in July 2015 at Bergen County Overpeck Park.