William A. Douglass is a social anthropologist and writer. He received his PhD in 1967 from the University of Chicago. He then founded and directed for 33 years the William A. Douglass Center for Basque Studies for the University of Nevada System. He has authored more than two dozen books and 200 articles. He was born in Reno, the eldest son of Jack Douglass-a Nevada gaming pioneer. William has extensive personal experience in the gambling industry, having been a part-owner of Reno's Club Cal Neva and the Comstock and Riverboat hotel-casinos. He is currently the president and principal shareholder of Nevada's Leisure Gaming.