Kutztown University has named Dr. Deborah Justice its new director of KU Presents. A native of Lancaster, Pa., Justice brings more than 20 years of performance, production and arts executive experience in non-profit, higher educational settings. She begins at KU Monday, March 10.
Justice comes to KU after nearly 10 years managing the Cornell Concert Series at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. She has extensive experience in programming a live concert series with community engagement components. At Cornell, she booked more than 65 concerts and led a team that attracted nearly 35,000 ticket holders. Ensuring diverse representation of the world’s sounds on stage, she programmed artists from more than 50 musical traditions.
She won more than $125,000 in supporting grants in her time at Cornell. Justice enhanced and solicited funding for the concert series, collaborating with administrators, faculty, board and other stakeholders to develop and implement a strategic vision, which garnered a $2 million endowment from the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation.
“I’m so excited for this opportunity to put my professional skillset to use in my home region,” Justice said. “I look forward to engaging in a lot of active listening and relationship building to learn how KU Presents can maximize its positive impact on the campus and community.”
Justice has hands-on experience with every aspect of concert series administration, from marketing, ticketing platforms and front of house management, to fundraising, budgeting, contract negotiation, community engagement and artist hospitality. Justice also coordinated special events and conferences, including Society for Ethnomusicology regional meetings, archival openings, multi-day symposiums, among others.
“Kutztown University is excited to have Deborah join our division as the new director of KU Presents,” said Matt Santos, vice president of University Relations and Athletics. “She brings a wealth of talent and knowledge to the position and has a clear plan and vision for the department to help the university enhance community engagement, student recruitment and retention.”
Prior to joining Cornell, Justice spent three years as the Schragis Postdoctoral Fellow at Syracuse University. She enjoyed teaching so much that she worked an additional four years as a lecturer at Syracuse while also working at Cornell. Her teaching experience spans five universities. She is also an experienced researcher and author with multiple peer-reviewed publications, including three books, seven book chapters, eight journal articles, nine book reviews and more than 30 conference presentations.
Justice earned her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in music and middle eastern studies from The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., and a Master of Arts in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
As the director of KU Presents, Justice is tasked with providing visionary leadership for Kutztown University’s performing arts series, ensuring the program engages both the campus and surrounding community through a diverse range of high-quality arts experiences. Established to be the center of cultural life at Kutztown University, KU Presents serves the campus and community by bringing world-class live arts that entertain, educate and enrich. Check out the remaining 2024-2025 season on the KU Presents website.