Heather Veneziano named Director of Tulane’s Historic Preservation Program

May 4, 2025

By Naomi King englar

The Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment has appointed Heather Veneziano as Program Director of its Historic Preservation Program. A nationally respected preservationist, educator, and cultural heritage advocate, Veneziano brings more than two decades of experience to this leadership role and is expected to guide the program into a new era of academic excellence and community impact.

Veneziano comes to the position after serving as the Interim Program Director and a Professor of Practice in the Historic Preservation Program, Veneziano has long played a pivotal role in shaping the program’s academic direction. Her promotion follows years of scholarship, mentorship, and outreach rooted deeply in the culture and built environment of New Orleans and the Gulf South. As Director, she will oversee curriculum development, community partnerships, and strategic planning while continuing to teach and conduct research.

“This program has long been a leader in exploring how we preserve not just buildings, but the layered histories and identities of the places we call home,” Veneziano said. “I’m honored to lead our incredible students and faculty as we expand how preservation supports environmental responsibility, social impact, and cultural storytelling.”

Veneziano’s diverse background makes her uniquely qualified for the role. She has cultivated a career at the intersection of scholarship, fieldwork, and public engagement. She is a leading voice in the study of vernacular architecture, placemaking, and the cultural and socioeconomic histories embedded in burial landscapes, sometimes referred to as “deathscapes.” Her work often explores how cemeteries function as expressions of community values and histories. In this line of research, she has written and contributed to multiple publications about New Orleans cemeteries, socio-economic dynamics in public memory, and the architecture of grief.

Outside of academia, Veneziano is the principal of Gambrel & Peak, a cultural heritage consulting firm that provides architectural history and preservation services throughout Louisiana and beyond. Her clients have ranged from grassroots community groups to city agencies, and her firm has earned recognition for blending rigorous research with inclusive preservation strategies.

Most recently, Veneziano worked with graduate students in the school’s Historic Preservation program to create the Louisiana Register of Historic Cemeteries, a comprehensive GIS-based database designed to document and preserve the state's vast collection of cemeteries, for the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation.

Veneziano’s appointment comes at a time when the field of historic preservation is evolving rapidly. As climate change and development pressures challenge conventional practices, Tulane’s program has worked to expand the boundaries of preservation education.

“Heather is a dynamic leader with a finger on the pulse of the industry and where preservation needs to go,” said Iñaki Alday, Dean of the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment. “She has the academic rigor, practical experience, and community focus that make her an ideal choice to guide the program forward.”

In addition to Veneziano's new role, the program continues to evolve, building on a strong foundation. Recent full-time appointments reflect and expand the program’s core values and global reach. These include nationally recognized preservation planner Fallon Samuels Aidoo, PhD; Aarthi Janakiraman, PhD, a planner and designer whose work investigates the spatial politics of heritage conservation in the Global South; and Eisa Esfanjary, PhD, one of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners in historic preservation, who we hope will soon join the school’s outstanding faculty. Together, this cohort brings both deep local engagement and expansive international insight, positioning Tulane’s program as a uniquely powerful force in the field of historic preservation and heritage conservation.

Under Veneziano's leadership, the Historic Preservation Program will continue offering hands-on training, interdisciplinary research opportunities, and community engagement initiatives that prepare students to be leaders in a rapidly changing field.

Veneziano said she hopes to maintain and expand collaborations with local cultural organizations, increase student research opportunities, and integrate emerging preservation technologies into the curriculum.

“In a city like New Orleans, history is always present,” she said. “Our job as preservationists is to listen, document, and act with care. I look forward to helping our students and faculty do exactly that.”

Watch Heather Veneziano talk about the Historic Preservation Program and her own work on YouTube and Instagram.

For more information about the Historic Preservation Program, visit Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment.