The announced departure of Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s president since 2014, comes as the center continues to search for a new board chair while navigating a second Trump term.

David Rubenstein, the chairman of the Kennedy Center, had announced last year that he was planning to step down, but agreed to remain in the role through September 2026. The Kennedy Center said that a search committee has been formed to find her successor, and the firm Spencer Stuart would be assisting in the process.

Deborah Rutter, who’s served as the president of the Kennedy Center since 2014, will step down from the high-profile role at the end of the year. “After more than 10 extraordinary years in Washington,

Deborah Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center in D.C. since 2014, announced Monday she’d be stepping down from her leadership role at the end of the year.