Allison G. Williams

Schooling: BA in the practice of art, 1972, and M.Arch, College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, 1976; Loeb Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 1986  

First job: McCue Boone Tomsick

Made partner: 1997

Biggest building: The Health Science and Research Campus at Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2.2 million square feet)

Advice for young women in architecture: "Being female is only an issue when it’s made to be and when one allows it to interfere. Gender does not trump or inhibit talent, focus, leadership, and authenticity."

Reading now: Lost in the City, by Edward P. Jones