Books by R. Barbara Gitenstein

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  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.

  
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  Experience Is the Angled Road: Memoir of an Academic

  While Experience Is the Angled Road: Memoir of an Academic is about leadership, it is not a handbook on how to be a leader.

  When her parents moved from New York City to a small town in Alabama, R. Barbara Gitenstein knew that she just did not fit. After leaving for boarding school in the eighth grade, she discovered that it was more than being Jewish and a Yankee that made her an oddity. She was an intellectual; she loved classical music.

  Before entering academe, Gitenstein learned to lead from the periphery, benefitting from exceptional and surprising mentors. She survived painful loss and life-changing challenges. In her memoir, R. Barbara Gitenstein captures the shock and the humor she faced when confronting the obstacles of being the only “whatever” in the room (woman, Jew, Southerner, liberal).

  
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