Chair and Professor of Practice in Social Justice

Newcastle University

The Reverend Professor Keith Magee, Th.D., FRHistS, FRSA is trained as an economist and theologian with over 30 years of professional experience as a senior executive in higher education, museums and non-profits with a focus on culture and justice, philanthropy, public policy and public theology. 

Having trained in theology at Grace Bible College and Harvard Divinity School, his work reflects on the Ten Commandments as ‘public policies’ thereby exploring how they inform society through belief, culture, economic and social justice.  He is the director of the Social Justice Institute and serves as Lead Pastor at The Living Room @The Berachah Church, Boston, MA. He is also Senior Fellow in Culture & Justice at the University College London.

One of his greatest accomplishments was serving for five years as the founding director of the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago, IL. He successfully led and initiated a $13 million capital campaign for the museum, which is committed to being a living cultural experience on social justice and human rights, illuminating the power of place. He took the appointment after serving as a senior director at the Museum of African American History-Boston and Nantucket, a collection of historic properties. There he secured over $5 million dollars for restoration of the African Meeting House.

Magee has served on the Joe Biden 2020 President Campaign’s African American Kitchen Cabinet. He previously served as Senior Religious Affairs Advisor with the Obama for America 2008 & 2012 campaign, subsequently working alongside the Obama Administration’s Faith Based Initiative. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors and Nominations Chair, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Previously, he served as Co-chair of the Massachusetts Council of Chaplains in State Institutions for Governor Deval Patrick. 

Additionally, he is passionate about providing humanitarian aid to children and families throughout the world. He is currently leading the effort to open the first public library in Kampala, Uganda that will provide children access to over 20,000 books. He serves as several boards: Trustee, Facing History and Ourselves; Co-chair, State of Black Britain Symposium, and Patron, Co-ED Foundation-UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was inducted into the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiums of Scholars. He is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

As a dyslexic, one of his most significant accomplishments is a co-creator of the Multicultural Initiative at Yale University Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. He has secured over $15 millions to develop programs and initiatives that advocate and support dyslexia globally. One of the efforts led to the co-founding of the St. Joseph’s University Urban Teachers Masters of Education Residency Training Program. 

Revd Magee’s body of work has awarded him with distinctions and support of the MacArthur, Ford and Seedlings foundations. He is an internationally sought after speaker and frequently featured as a columnist and op-ed opinion contributor on issues of social justice, politics, race, and religion, both in the United Kingdom and United States.

Department: Newcastle Law School

Email: keith.magee@ncl.ac.uk