Rebecca Vitz Cherico grew up in New York City. She graduated from Yale University in 1993 with a B.A. in Italian and later did her doctorate in Spanish literature at New York University, where her dissertation focused on the intersection of evolutionary theory and Spanish literature. Since 2004 she has taught both mostly a "Great Books"-style course at Villanova University, as well as Spanish and Italian. Rebecca edited Atheist to Catholic: Stories of Conversion; she contributed a chapter on the priestly abuse crisis to the volume Breaking Through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves; and she hosted a radio program on conversion for Radio Maria. This past fall, she presented at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Rebecca and her husband, Colin, have lived in the greater Philadelphia area since 2002. They have five children.