Michelle Kayon

Michelle Kayon, RA, LEED AP, joined the Cathedral in 2020 and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Cathedral facilities, as well as major architectural projects, maintenance and renovations at the Cathedral. She is the first woman in the 112-year history of the Cathedral to hold the position of chief architect.

Before joining the Cathedral, she worked for 13 years in a number of key positions with the Architect of the Capitol, most recently as Acting Superintendent of House Office Buildings. She has been instrumental in the ongoing renovation to the Cannon House Office Building and the recent restoration of the Capitol Dome.

She also oversaw renovation projects at the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Zoo, Department of Justice and other sites across Washington.

Before beginning in the federal government, Kayon worked at award-winning private sector architecture firms for over 10 years. Her experience  working on preservation, restoration and new construction projects at Beyer Blinder Belle, and Mitchell Giurgola in New York City, and at Shalom Baranes and Associates in Washington, D.C. includes a study for the preservation of the Tweed Courthouse, N.Y., a Customer Education Center for IBM  and the renewal of the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC.

She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.