After 32 years of service and a lifetime of connections to NIU, director of Document Services Shey Lowman celebrated her retirement Saturday among colleagues and well-wishers.

Lowman credits her employment at NIU to an unlikely opportunity. She remembered working as a film booking clerk in 1974, hired in part because of a shortage of staff and economic recession.

“Like everybody else, I fell into it,â€? Lowman said.

Lowman’s decades at NIU took her through the publication office where she worked as a liaison between the editors of NIU publications and the print shop. Eventually, her career brought her to Document Services, where she was responsible for coordinating technology and working with a variety of customers who needed to utilize NIU’s printing service.

“By the time you take that second or third step, you say ‘Wow, this must be a career,’â€? Lowman said.

During her time at Document Services, Lowman became one of the few women in charge in the publication industry.

“People show up expecting to talk to a man,â€? Lowman said. “So it’s always been kind of fun to watch the people react.â€?

Lowman’s 16 years at Document Services have brought many changes to NIU’s publications. Lowman brought Document Services into the time of electronic publication, brought together the coin-operated copy machines across campus, organized the printing of course packets used by many students and successfully prevented the outsourcing of a number of NIU jobs, said Bill Sarafin, business manager of ITS Business Services.

Lowman has been a part of NIU all her life, beginning with NIU’s McMurray Lab School in first grade. She got her art degree from NIU and became a “townieâ€? before seeking employment at the university in 1974.

During her time at NIU, she built up a large number of admirers with her calm and focused approach to management.

“She took what I call ‘superior customer services’ to a new level,â€? said Debra Hopkins, director of NIU’s CPA Review and accounting professor.

Lowman looks forward to retiring and planning the house that she and her husband want to build together.

“I’m going to learn how to have a personal life,â€? Lowman said. “My heart and soul has been NIU since I’ve been 24 years old, and I just want to find out what it’s like.â€?