Ridgewood Resident Earns Fourth Graduate Degree

Rosa Oppenheim is running out of space on her wall.

The longtime Ridgewood resident earned her fourth graduate degree and second from Rutgers University Monday: A master’s in liberal studies. She already has Master’s Degree in English from Rutgers, along with a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate from Polytechnic University. The experience of going back for a degree in the arts was an eye-opening one, Oppenheim said.

“The first time I heard the words, ‘Is this going to be on the exam?” come out of my mouth, that was a real ‘aha’ moment,” Oppenheim said.

Oppenheim has been a tenured professor at Rutgers’ Newark campus since 1980.

“I have an engineering background and all of my undergraduate work was very technical, there was no room for electives in the arts and humanities,” Oppenheim said.

She had to balance the needs of her own studies against those of her students’ and family’s.

“I had to juggle a lot of things,” Oppenheim said. “I have never gone away on a vacation without taking work with me, whether it was work associated with one of the courses I was taking or with my role as a professor or as an administrator.”

‘I love it. I think I’m probably one of these perpetual students.’ — Rosa Oppenheim

Oppenheim credits her family with providing her the means to persevere through all the demands beset on her. She said she always has felt at home taking classes and being involved in academia.

“I love it. I think I’m probably one of these perpetual students. I was always happy in school, I was always happy taking courses,” Oppenheim said. “For me, it’s been a personally rewarding experience.”

(Pictured: Rosa Oppenheim/Courtesy of Rutgers University)