Deborah F. Rutter
Deborah F. Rutter is a nationally respected arts executive with over four decades of leadership in premier cultural institutions. Rutter is Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University. From 2014 to 2025, she served as the first female President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, leading a period of transformative growth while centering artists in all aspects of the institution’s work. A champion of artistic voices, Rutter believes artists hold a mirror to society, and her role is to uplift their work. She has collaborated with and appointed renowned artists throughout her career, including Renée Fleming, Jason Moran, Q-Tip, Mason Bates, Mo Willems, Gianandrea Noseda, Carlos Simon, Francesca Zambello, Hope Boykin, Riccardo Muti, and Yo-Yo Ma. During her tenure at the Kennedy Center, Rutter expanded the institution’s artistic and educational programming across genres and audiences, including the 2019 introduction of Social Impact programming, an emphasis on the exploration of arts and well-being, art and technology, art and climate, and, notably, the opening of the Center’s first physical expansion, the REACH. Previously, Rutter was President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (2003–2014), where she secured Riccardo Muti as music director and cemented the CSO’s reputation as a top-tier orchestra. As Executive Director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (1992–2003), she oversaw the construction of Benaroya Hall. Rutter started her career in Los Angeles as Orchestra Manager at the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1978–1986) and as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (1986–1992). A pianist and violinist, Rutter earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from USC. She serves on the boards of Vital Voices, the Glenn Gould Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, where she cochaired the Academy’s recent Commission on the Arts which published two reports: Art Is Work, on the economic impact of the arts and artists, and Art for Life’s Sake, on the impact of arts education. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.