Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA
For this installment of Women Across HOK, we have to go back to Michelle’s inaugural post where she so eloquently describes our intent – “to bring forth some dialog as to these women’s motivation, their life stories, and the way that they have carved a very deep and enduring path for others in our formerly male-dominated professions.” That pretty much sums it up for Mary Ann Lazarus, new FAIA, firmwide director of sustainable design, co-author of The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design and so much more …this series was made to tell her story.
We know her as Mary Ann, or MAL, but others in her life know her by various combinations of her given and married names. The specifics she won’t disclose but suffice it to say, she is loved and respected in many circles and is able to maintain that elusive work/life balance we all struggle to achieve.
Having many spheres of influence is a recurring theme in Mary Ann’s life. During her career at HOK she has built an incredible network of professionals committed to bettering the world we live in through design in the built environment both inside and outside the firm.
In preparing for my interview with her, I sent around a request to 10 individuals and gave them 10 seconds to come up with one word to describe Mary Ann. Knowing what you now know about her, you won’t be surprised to hear that only a small few actually gave me one word. Passionate, resourceful, resilient, generous, tenacious and networked were common themes. For Mary Ann, she is deeply inspired by her family and it is from her mother that she learned early in life, it’s not about what you have, but what you do with it.
I hope you will be equally as inspired as I was to hear her share about the experiences that shaped her and made her the phenomenal trailblazer and role model that she is today.
Q. When did you first know that you wanted to be an architect?
A. I took a different path than most to this profession. It was after college that I figured out I wanted to be an architect. I was a Russian Studies major at Mount Holyoke, a women’s College in western Massachusetts. I then went on to be a Five College Fellow for the 5 area colleges, where I worked to develop interdependent relationships among the institutions. My big project was a new bus system to link the schools and I was charged to look at everything from signage to the programming. It was here that I got to experience the power of design and its physical manifestation . With much encouragement from my friends and family, I went to Boston Architectural College where the educational format was such that I could get a taste without full commitment of a traditional 4-year degree. I worked for a husband and wife team, the wife was Andrea Leers who became one of my early mentors and is now a well-known architect. From there I went on to complete my Masters in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis as an Olin Fellow which is a Fellowship geared toward women in graduate programs. [editors note: Mary Ann was just named to her alma mater, Washington University’s, Board of Trustees]
Q. You are a tireless and inspiring champion of sustainability, what keeps that fire alive for you?
A. I have to share an interesting story here. My first studio at Washington University, I walked into the door on a fateful day and met the two big loves of my life, my husband and sustainability. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Sustainability has been a passion of mine ever since and when I came to work in the 80s at HOK, I was able to find other like minded designers who really took up the cause with me and we became sort of the early adopters of sustainability at the firm. It was really a grassroots effort that led to writing the book with Bill Odell and Sandy Mendler and now this network of talented professionals across the whole firm doing amazing and sometimes cutting edge work for clients all over the world.
Mary Ann with the inspiring women of her life, her sister and mother
Q. You come from an impressive family – really smart people, activists in their fields – what is that like for you and how do you think that has shaped your life?
A. I am actually considered the ‘black sheep’ of my family. I am the only one who is in business. Everyone else is either in academia or government and all of them are very much activists in their fields. Both of my brothers are accomplished environmental lawyers, my father is a retired physics professor (Patrick MacLeamy actually studied with him!). My mother instilled in us that its not what you have, but what you do, and you need to use your intelligence wisely.
My sister Barbara, who passed away in 2003, was truly one of the most influential people in my life. She was an author and advocate for women in non-traditional professions. An anthropologist and Associate Provost at Carnegie Mellon University, she mentored hundreds of women and wrote several books telling their stories of how they were influenced and why they made the choices that they did. Her books are still available, this one, Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants (Labor and Social Change) is on Amazon.com.
Q. What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career to date?
A. Developing this network of sustainable leaders both inside and outside of HOK. I have done a lot of work with the USGBC over the years and have built many relationships with professionals across a variety of firms. Our alliance with the Biomimicry Guild is also exciting to me. I am incredibly hopeful that we are on our way to doing some break-through work and that sustainability will very soon become the standard across the entire profession.
Mary Ann with her husband and children
Q. If there is one thing that you pass along to your children, what would you hope it to be?
A. My children are very important to me obviously and I am very proud of each of them in their own unique way of approaching life. I hope that we have instilled that sense of purpose that was so important to me growing up and that belief in who they are without trying to be something they are not.
Q. It has been said that you have a pair of glasses for every outfit…is this true?
A. Ha! Actually, I only have three pairs of glasses. When I turned 50, I found out I needed glasses and I looked at it as an opportunity…Hey, I can wear one to suit my mood just like changing a dress!
Editor’s Note:
Here is the full list of 10 words in 10 seconds to describe Mary Ann…
Lovely
Tenacious
Resourceful
Resilient
Generous
Networked
Supercalifragiliestic
Passionate
Amazing
Icon
—
NOTE: Mary Ann Lazarus was recently named to the newest class of the AIA College of Fellows. Click here to view the complete list of inductees.
