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Toni Chambers, longtime administrative assistant, shaped center and those who came through it

Former RMCOEH Administrative Assistant Toni Chambers, right, and Dr. Kurt Hegmann, the center's director, prepare cake during a retirement celebration for Chambers. Chambers retired at the end of December, capping a nearly two-decade career at RMCOEH in which she made significant contributions to the center's successes.

A kind word and a warm smile.

That’s how nearly every person entering the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health was greeted at the front desk as they hurried to class, approached with a question about parking, or stopped for a moment to scoop up a handful of pretzels and exchange pleasantries. For those who frequented the center, the interactions were a small but meaningful part of the day — a moment of connection that buoyed their spirits even on, say, the morning of an exam. 

Now, after 19 years of heartfelt “Hellos,” the person behind the desk has said goodbye. Toni Chambers, one of RMCOEH’s most visible mainstays who also held an indispensable behind-the-scenes role, retired from her position as administrative assistant at the end of December. Her retirement caps a tenure in which she contributed to numerous successes that reshaped RMCOEH, notably including the center’s transformation into a multi-university partnership in 2021 and the era of growth that has followed. 

“I guess I could say I'm a people person, and I like to people-please,” she said. “My time at RMCOEH has been good and joyful and I've learned a lot.”

The center celebrated Chambers and her transition into retirement during a gathering in mid-January. The mood cheerful and the memories flowing freely, many people shared stories about Chambers, most featuring a common theme: Her kindness and friendship colored their experience at the center for the better. 

Some noted how Chambers’ nurturing spirit led many students to anoint her the center’s “mother,” which eventually was amended to “grandmother” — a moniker, it was understood, that Chambers would embrace given how often and affectionately she spoke of her real-life grandchildren.

A particularly moving anecdote came from Dr. Melissa Cheng, who prior to joining RMCOEH’s faculty came to the center as a resident physician in 2010. She had given birth to her first child just weeks prior and was struggling to find her footing both as a mother and in the residency program. In Chambers, she found a comforting presence whose reassurance and wisdom helped her navigate those first few challenging months.  

“That meant so much,” Cheng said, directing her remarks toward Chambers. 

For Chambers, forging those kinds of connections with others — particularly the students and residents who came through RMCOEH over the last 20 years — was one of the most meaningful parts of her job. The camaraderie, she said, is what she will miss most. 

“It definitely warms my heart to be able to touch people like that,” she said. “That’s my philosophy — I want to be able to leave someone happy, feeling joy.”

Chambers’ contributions to the center, however, were not limited to her kindhearted demeanor. Often one of only a few RMCOEH staff members during her tenure, she held broad responsibilities ranging from creating the center’s newsletter to organizing grant applications to  orchestrating biannual Advisory Board meetings. The latter, in particular, was a perpetual source of stress for Chambers, who understood that the meetings — which often include state lawmakers, labor representatives, business figures, high-ranking university officials, and industry leaders — represent a critical opportunity for RMCOEH to advance its most important objectives. 

At the celebration, she recalled feeling as if she were going to “pass out” before her first Advisory Board meeting. She retreated to a friend’s office and put her head between her knees. The friend reassured her that she was up to the task. 

Her friend, it turned out, was right. And after some years on the job, Chambers came to appreciate the responsibility — if not revel in it — because of the relationships she developed with the Board members. 

“I would never have thought of myself rubbing shoulders with that caliber of people,” she said. “To have them embrace me just makes me feel good that I can call them friends.”

Chambers attended her final Advisory Board meeting in November, this time sharing the weekslong preparation with her successor at RMCOEH’s front desk, Muridi Barow, and a full team of RMCOEH staff members. As was always the case when Chambers was involved, the details, both big and small, that affect the success of high-stakes meetings were accounted for, setting the stage for discussions and decisions that will lead the center into the future. 

It is a future that Chambers, of course, will watch from afar as she devotes more of her time to her family, tending her garden, and mastering the science of baking sourdough bread. But it is one that — as those who passed through RMCOEH over the last two decades can attest — she had an outsized role in shaping.

-- By Bubba Brown