Jeff Brush/ THE POST Lee Rubin, an inductee to the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, stands in front of the Memorial Grove outside the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board building in Athens. Rubin was selected for the Hall of Fame for her work as an advocate for mental health and drug addiction prevention in Southeastern Ohio.

When Lenore Rubin was attending college in New York, she always believed she would be what she wanted to be.

Now, more than 30 years later, she will be honored for her achievements as she is inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame.

"This is a prestigious honor because it is a public institution for recognition for women who go above and beyond in their achievements," said Susan McKinley, director of the women's division of the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services. "I know of no other higher honor."

This is the 21st year of inductions and the 18 new inductees bring the total honored to 300. Rubin was chosen because she is an advocate in the fields of mental-health and drug-addiction prevention. She is also the executive director of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board in Southeast Ohio.

"I can deal with $12 million, graphs and charts, but what I really want to do is deal with real people," Rubin said. "That is getting more and more difficult. I hope we don't lose sight of personal touch and human needs."

Rubin sets a high standard as an administrator for her employees as well as for all young women.

"She's an inspiration who has opened doors for young women so they don't have to encounter the disrespect and negativity that she had to overcome," said Harriet Trevas, Rubin's executive assistant. "She has a reputation of excellence, demanding excellence and high-quality performance from her employees, but she still goes out of her way to do an extra favor, express appreciation and thank people."

Though Rubin has opened doors for women in the professional field, she still had to conquer obstacles to get to where she is.

"It was difficult combining family and work - that was more than a job but was in fact a career - to meet the prejudices in what was predominately a male-dominated field," she said, "also, being a woman and not saying, 'sorry I have to be home and make dinner,' so I could establish a standard that could be respected by males or females regardless of where I was."

As a professional woman trying to advance in the field of mental-health administration, Rubin chose to hide her marital and family status so she could dodge the stereotypes that affect professional women.

"A long time ago I made a decision not to wear a wedding ring, not to have family pictures in my office and not to use a prefix unless I had to - that prefix was Ms. This. It was surprising to me that people then assumed I was not married, I had no children and that I had no other interests, which was not true," Rubin said.

Rubin has been married for 41 years, has taken her husband's last name and has raised a son.

"Her career hasn't affected the family very much except that for a couple years we were a long distance couple," said her husband.Because of the way she chose to deal with the challenges that faced her, Rubin identifies with those who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"It is just interesting as people perceive you in one dimensional ways," Rubin said. "I have had people sit in my office and say, 'you are a mother?' I suspect that most of the women who are inducted into the Hall of Fame have multifacets."

-Megan Ballinger contributed to this story.