Trudi Sandmeier

Trudi Sandmeier is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Graduate Programs in Heritage Conservation, and Professor of Practice at the USC School of Architecture. With decades of experience in heritage conservation advocacy, education, and leadership, she focuses on cultivating future leaders in the field. She joined USC in 2003 as a faculty member full-time since 2011 and has led transformative initiatives such as rebranding the Heritage Conservation program and launching dual-degree programs with Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Building Science.

Education: B.A. History (UCLA), M.A. Historic Preservation Planning (Cornell University).

Research Interests: Future of heritage conservation, conserving the recent past, and amplifying underrepresented communities' contributions to the built environment. Co-created the award-winning podcast Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation and co-edited the Routledge Companion to Global Heritage Conservation (2019).

Affiliations: Board member of California Preservation Foundation, Historic Preservation Education Foundation, and Southern California Docomomo US. Serves as an advisor to FORT: LA. Recent roles include 2025 USC School of Architecture Commencement Speaker and keynote at Cornell University's 2022 symposium.