R. Barbara Gitenstein is the author of numerous articles on Jewish American literature and academic administration, the monograph Apocalyptic Messianism and Jewish-American Poetry, several op-eds for the higher education press, and Experience Is the Angled Road: Memoir of an Academic. Although originally, she wanted to be a prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera Company, her second-choice career took off after receiving her bachelor of arts from Duke University and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After fifteen years as a full-time professor, she served as provost and executive vice president at Drake University and president of the College of New Jersey.