R. Bar­bara Giten­stein is a schol­ar of Jew­ish-Amer­i­can Lit­er­a­ture and aca­d­e­m­ic admin­is­tra­tion. She received a B.A. with hon­ors from Duke Uni­ver­si­ty and a Ph.D. in Eng­lish and Amer­i­can Lit­er­a­ture from Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na at Chapel Hill. She became a pro­fes­sor of Eng­lish, Provost and Exec­u­tive Vice Pres­i­dent at Drake Uni­ver­si­ty, and pres­i­dent of The Col­lege of New Jer­sey in Ewing, New Jersey.