Author, The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America
Daniel Okrent is the author of six books, most recently The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America. It is his third book since he concluded his term as the first Public Editor of the New York Times in 2005. His earlier works include Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, winner of the American Historical Association’s prize for the year’s best book of American History; and Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history.
Before his tenure at the Times, Okrent spent 13 years at Time Inc., where he was successively managing editor of Life magazine; editor of new media; and corporate editor-at-large. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively in book and magazine publishing in various editorial and executive positions. He has lectured at the Columbia School of Journalism, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (where he was the Edward R. Murrow Fellow in 2009-2010), and other universities. He is currently on the boards of the Authors Guild and the Skyscraper Museum, and is a former chairman (2003-2008) of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.