William D. Danko, Ph.D., is an associate professor and chair of marketing at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He co-authored the New York Times bestseller "The Millionaire Next Door" with the late Thomas J. Stanley, which sold over 4 million copies and was recently selected as a top-five business book by The Wall Street Journal. Danko's extensive research with Stanley over two decades revealed that most millionaires in the U.S. are first-generation wealthy from modest backgrounds who achieved wealth through hard work and frugal living.

Growing up in a working-class family himself, Danko's frugal upbringing influenced his life philosophy and became a central tenet of the book's advice. Now residing in upstate New York, the former marketing professor continues to embody the principles he helped popularize through his influential bestseller.