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Portrait of a Presidency: Patterns in My Life as President of The College of New Jersey

Portrait of a Presidency: Patterns in My Life as President of The College of New Jersey

As public opinion began to sour on higher education, Barbara Gitenstein became president of the College of New Jersey (TCNJ), today one of the most competitive and successful public undergraduate institutions in the Northeast, second among New Jersey institutions only to Princeton in successful admission of students to graduate programs.

 

During her nineteen-year tenure as president, she confronted multiple crises, including 9/11, student deaths, controversial speakers, and political interference. By partnering with other agencies and working to build a team of esteemed colleagues, she successfully navigated the complex expectations of a higher education leader—but not without a few missteps along the way.

 

Told with a self-deprecating humor and a spirit of gratitude for all angles of her time as president, Portrait of a Presidency: Patterns in My Life as President of the College of New Jersey offers insights on successful leadership that will resonate across industries.

Pages: 176
Pub Date: 01-21-2025
Softcover: 17.95 979-8-88824-584-2
Hardcover: 26.95 979-8-88824-586-6

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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.

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