An emphasis on entrepreneurial thinking is another Wentworth program focus drawn from Hasso's career. His senior-level construction business and finance class teaches students how to develop business plans for new construction startups. "Many schools are adding entrepreneurship classes to their programs because those skills are very important today and more students are focused on it, but it's something we've always done," Hasso says.

Hasso's team-based approach also reflects his long-standing interest in eliminating the fragmentation that he says hamstrings the efficiency of real-world engineering and construction.

"We're seeing a trend in that direction now with integrated project delivery gaining a lot of traction, but we need more of it," Hasso says. "That's why I've always emphasized teams so that students can see how different disciplines work together better."

And because Hasso rotates the leadership of the student teams among all members, everyone has the opportunity—and responsibility—to manage the group's performance.

"The group's grade was never about what the group did or what individual members did," recalls 2005 graduate Jim Potter, now a senior project scheduler for Turino Group, Providence. "It was based on how successful the project was. Concentrating on the bigger picture of a project, not just a particular area, is something I appreciate now more than ever."

Throughout his career, Hasso has dedicated himself to service. He is an active participant in 17 professional organizations and co-founded the Construction Management Association of America's New England chapter in 1995.

Under Hasso's leadership, the Wentworth BCM program has also exhibited another quality increasingly important among design and construction professionals—resiliency.

With commercial construction brought to a virtual standstill during the recent recession, Hasso drew on his extensive network of professional and project contacts to shift the program's focus from buildings to the then-more-active heavy infrastructure markets. "Dr. Hasso knew how to adapt the program to what the industry's needs are at a particular time," Potter recalls. "Compare that with a program that only does the same thing year after year with only minor changes."

Hasso's legacy of work has not gone unnoticed. He was honored with CMAA's first-ever Educator of the Year Award in 2012. Other recognitions include the Wentworth Institute of Technology Department of Construction Management Special Recognition in 2011; the Citizen Engineer's Award, presented by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers in 2008; and the President's Distinguished Service Award, presented by Wentworth in 2008.

But perhaps Hasso's greatest legacy—and greatest reward—is represented in the graduates he has sent into the field.

Hasso's genuine and contagious passion for the industry is instilled in leaders like Keville Enterprises' Becker. "When I go to work every day, it's because of him," she says.