[1][2] He grew up in Staten Island in New York City,[3] and attended Monsignor Farrell High School, where he graduated in 1985.

"[5] Following his degree, Celenza was awarded the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship for Recently Tenured Scholars by the American Council of Learned Societies in 2003.

In 2005, Celenza joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, holding positions in the departments of history, German and Romance languages and literatures, and classics.

[5] In 2010, Celenza took a leave of absence from Johns Hopkins[5] to become the 21st director of the American Academy in Rome, succeeding Carmela Vircillo Franklin.

[5] On October 22, 2020, Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels named Celenza as James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, effective January 4, 2021.