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Having run in-plants in three states, Catherine Chambers has made a career of improving and advancing the print operations she leads.
IT IS NOT altogether clear whether Catherine Chambers believed in fate when it came to choosing her career as an in-plant manager. As the director of Printing and Mail Services at Virginia Tech sees it, it just "kind of happened."
But make no mistake about it. Chambers loves what she does.
In the tight-knit circle of college and university in-plant managers, Chambers and her husband, Ray, are as close to celebrities as this space offers. As a tandem, they developed a consulting business, the Chambers Management Group (CMG), that has provided guidance to more than 100 college, university and non-profit in-plants. Any in-plant manager who has attended a conference is undoubtedly familiar with the dynamic duo.
Catherine Chambers' career path took off in 1986, when she was manager of the secretarial pool (which she changed to "word processing center") at Sewanee University of the South in Sewanee,Tenn.The center, which reported to Printing Services, provided support for all faculty on campus. During this time, she helped set up the school's first computer network and taught virtually every staff member how to use their computers, along with programs such as Word and Excel.
Chambers later took the helm of Printing Services, which she operated in conjunction with the word processing system. Along the way, she also took control of the student post office and mailing on campus. Chambers remained at the university until 1997.
It was during her term there that she met Ray Chambers...