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Historic Preservation Alumna manages conservation of the U.S. Treasury

Shows the ceiling of the U.S. Treasury dome, with a circular skylight and crown molding around it
The U.S. Treasury restoration project, a Robert Mills design, in collaboration with EverGreene Architectural Arts.

September 11, 2026
BY Evan Allbritton

After receiving a M.S. in Historic Preservation (MSHP) from the School of Architecture and Built Environment, our graduates are equipped to handle today’s most urgent projects. For Historic Preservation alumna Emma Kousouris (MPS *16), this means managing the restoration and preservation of many of the most significant spaces in the U.S. 

After graduating in 2016, Kousouris launched her career in conservation at EverGreene Architectural Arts, the country’s largest specialty contractor for restoration and historic preservation. EverGreene’s work has been withprivate, public, and sacred client nationwide, but many of their conservation projects have been for iconic monuments and civic spaces, including the Library of Congress, the Jefferson, Lincoln Memorials, and numerous state capitol buildings. Their most recent project is a restoration of the U.S. Treasury’s southwest dome, with Kousouris acting as Project Manager. 

A conservationist wearing white protective gear working on the ceiling of a domed room.
Restoration work underway on the Treasury's southwest dome.

Kousouris’s career trajectory has been a true success story. With a BA in Historic Preservation and Art History from the College of Charleston and a Master’s in Preservation Studies at TuSABE, Kousouris has been pursuing conservation throughout her academic and professional career. In 2016 she joined EverGreene as a conservator, where she conducted research and performed condition assessments, conservation treatments, and materials testing and analysis. In 2022, she was promoted to assistant project manager and was quickly promoted again to project manager in 2024. Aside from her current role managing the Treasury restoration, which is an ongoing project set to finish later this month, she is also an active member of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC). 

The Treasury dome restoration also connects two generations of Tulane alumni. EverGreene is working under the supervision of Citadel DCA, the Washington, DC preservation architecture firm led by Scott Paden (B. Arch. ’81) and his wife and partner, Ana Gemma de la Fuente, who attended Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment from 1981 to 1983. For the past decade, Citadel DCA has served as architect of record for the Treasury’s main and annex buildings and as preservation architect for the dome project. Paden has known Kousouris since her early days at Conservation Solutions, and sees her advancement from conservator to project manager as a model of the career path the school hopes to offer today’s students. 

Congratulations to Emma Kousouris, and we look forward to seeing her important work preserving U.S. spaces continue to unfold. 

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