Ephron, architect and role model extraordinaire.

Architect, role model, mentor and mother, Hazel Ephron, has what every woman aspires to have--a fulfilling career and family life.

Hazel has been a valued staff member of WASA, a prominent 100-year-old New York and New Jersey based architectural and engineering firm, for 30 years. She became a partner in 1985 and senior partner in 2004. "In any job throughout my career, I give 200% and that's what stood me in good stead when I came here to WASA," Hazel said. "I have seen the company through good and bad times. Now I am involved in everything from hiring to finances to technical work."

Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP (WASA) has three principals and a staff of more than 75. As a single-source A/E firm, WASA provides clients with professional expertise in architecture, interior design, preservation, mechanical and electrical engineering and commissioning.

Hazel currently serves the firm as partner in charge of various infrastructure projects, both for new buildings and rehabilitation projects, as well as being the partner in charge of WASA's preservation department. Most recently, she has taken on the management of the architectural and interiors departments within the firm.

"As we grew, we got more and more landmark work and facade work," she said. "We formed a really prestigious preservation group here. We've done everything from the municipal building downtown to The Breakers in Newport."

Projects Hazel has managed include Columbia University's Morningside Campus condition assessment, The Breakers in Newport Rhode Island, New York University Sports and Recreation Center, St Lukes Roosevelt Hospital Exterior Restoration Projects, Weeksville Society for the Restoration of the Hunterfly Houses, Frank Lloyd Wright's Failing Water Exterior Rehabilitation and East Midtown Plaza Housing.

Leading many projects with her knowledge and experience, Hazel still breaks new ground.

"I get a challenge every day," she said. "I learn something every day. I learn by doing. I also learned something very early on in my career. It's not what you know. It's who you know to get the answers."

Her wisdom inspires many at the firm.

"Working with her is a big asset. We get a sense of how a project should evolve," said Marisa Cox, project architect, who been with WASA for four years.

"She gives great guidance. We owe a lot to her here at WASA. Her enthusiasm is her greatest asset. Hazel is very special."

Hazel knew she was to be an architect early on. "I had the opportunity to take an elective in architecture in high school," she said. "Up to that time, I didn't know where I was going, but as soon as I had that class I knew I was going to study architecture."

She began her career in an age when most women took to more traditional roles as a teacher or nurse.

"When I went to school back in 1955, the starting class was three women and 140 men," Hazel said.

In the 1970s, she and her husband moved to Indiana, where she worked at a small firm checking architectural drawings.

"In the Midwest it was a very tough time being a woman in this field, because they were really quite provincial," she said. "They thought woman should be home and take care of their babies."

A working woman with two children, Hazel never forgot her role as mother.

"I was a mother with small children and I was able to work part-time and get home to my children at the end of the day," she said. "I didn't start working full-time until they were 10 and 12."

Today, her most prized possession in her office is a photo of her first great-grandchild.

She proudly says "That's what it's all about, isn't it," as she points to her computer desktop where the photograph is displayed.

A founding member of Professional Women in Construction, Hazel still supports women in the industry, but said when it comes down to brass tacks, it's a level playing field.

"I've always been happy to see women come into this industry," she said. "When I do my interviewing for staff, I am glad to see women, but I hire the right person. I don't discriminate."

The right person, said Hazel, has to have an open mind. "A good architect is someone who is willing to experiment, someone who is willing to listen," she said. "I think a good architect is really well rounded in everything, is able to think beyond the box, is able to design. That's why I am an architect, because I like the mechanical, the structural, the electrical--all of it."

She is a member of the New York City Chapter of the AIA, WX, PWC, and the New York Society of Architect and is licensed in five states.

Now 66, Hazel still works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and continues to be challenged and inspire others.

"I really like to mentor and mentor people here at the firm," she said. "People joke because I'm kind of the mother of everybody here."

Her input is appreciated. "It's remarkable how she developed her career," Cox said.

"She is an incredible role model. I admire her as a woman and a role model."

Since its founding more than a century ago, WASA has participated in the growth of New York City as a respected architecture, engineering and historic preservation firm.

In 2003, WASA celebrated its centennial anniversary. Whether creating new spaces for New York's top hospitals and colleges or preserving the City's architectural landmarks, WASA continues to serve with distinction.

Several of the most recent New York City projects WASA has designed include:

Jamaica Center for the Performing Arts--Adaptive Reuse; Fashion Institute of New York--conversion of office building to dormitory (in design); historic restoration of the Hunterfly Houses, Brooklyn New York for the Weeksville Society; Fordham University--Servery; Ruttenberg Ambulatory Oncology Center and Mr. Sinai Medical Center.

WASA's past notable projects include: New York County Courthouse restoration/renovation; Manhattan Municipal Building restoration/renovation; Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College; Fordham University School of Law, Bronx, NY; Jerome S. Coles Sports and Recreation Center/New York University.