Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Jeff Ginsberg graduated from Boston University with a BFA in Acting and the Yale School of Drama with an MFA in Acting. He studied at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA); with Paola Coletto in Padua, Italy; and at the Double Edge Theatre, Ashfield, Massachusetts.

An actor, director, and educator he served as the Coordinator of the Acting Program of the Theatre Department, Columbia College Chicago until he retired in 2017. He also served as co-artistic director of the National Jewish Theatre from 1992-1996, where he supervised, directed or acted in more than twenty productions, some of which were Chicago and world premieres. From 1986-1990, he was co-artistic director of the Immediate Theatre Company, where he directed productions of Seduced, Two Small Bodies, Apocalyptic Butterflies and Ragged Dick. He performed in the Chicago premieres of The Heidi Chronicles, Sight Unseen, Exact Change and in several classical and devised work in a variety of media.

The collection contains production notebooks for plays he directed at Columbia College Chicago from 1992 to 2017 and in local theaters from 1990 to 2013. It also contains posters for several productions in which he directed or performed in Chicago, Illinois from 1986 to 2010, arranged in two series: Production Books and Posters.

The Guide to the Jeff Ginsberg Collection lists its contents.