Vincent J. Cannato is associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts-Boston where he teaches courses on New York City history, Boston history, immigration history, and twentieth-century American history.

He is the author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island (HarperCollins, 2009); The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York (Basic Books, 2001); and co-editor of Living in the Eighties (Oxford University Press, 2009). Prof. Cannato has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Affairs, Politico, and Humanities Magazine. He has also received a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support his research.

He received his PhD in History from Columbia University and his BA with Honors in Political Science from Williams College. He lives with his family in Framingham, MA.