Chitra Nallanagulagari
Meet Chitra, a middleware administrator who has supported several major software upgrades and is keeping our systems up to date every day. When she came to Ohio State, she just needed a job, but the amazing people she gets to work with have kept her in our office for 15 years and counting. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to India to visit her parents (and score some tasty mangoes). Here in Ohio, family time is key—even the indecisive times of choosing what to binge next.
Q: What is your role at the university? I am a Middleware Administrator. My role is to keep the Peoplesoft Systems, Sunapsis, Blue, etc. up to date by upgrading the applications to the latest versions, by applying patches/fixes regularly and making sure to keep the systems available 24/7.
Q: How long have you worked at Ohio State? I’ve worked at Ohio State for around 15 years now.
Q: Have you worked on any large projects since you’ve been here? I was hired as a consultant for the Finance/eMat upgrade project in 2003 as an Oracle database administrator and then took a temporary position for the SIS project in 2005. I then moved to PeopleSoft and worked on the HR/SIS split project HR9.2/CS9.0 and some other major tools upgrades.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you? I am working on PeopleSoft systems. My typical day would be supporting PeopleSoft systems and some 3rd party systems that connect to Student Systems (like Sunapsis, SEI Blue, Lynx, etc).
Q: What do you like best about your job? I enjoy the opportunity to work on a variety of projects that allow me to work with amazing people.
Q: Did you always know this is what you wanted to do as a career? My father wanted me to become a doctor but I couldn’t do it. I switched to engineering and ended up doing an IT job. I am happy with what I am doing now.
Q. Why did you choose to work at Ohio State? Honestly, I just needed a job; this one looked promising and I am happy with how it has turned out.
Q. What are you most proud of? I am most proud of my two wonderful daughters.
Q: Where are you from originally? I am originally from a town in the southern part of India with beautiful mountains and tasty mangoes.
Q: What is your favorite place to visit? Back home in India, where my parents still live.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? I would love to travel to Greece; the scenery and architecture are beautiful and very different from both India and Ohio.
Q: Can you tell us about your family? My husband and I have two amazing daughters, one in her last year of high school and the other in her last year of middle school.
Q. What do you do for fun outside of work? I enjoy going on scenic walks with my family.
Q. What kinds of things are you passionate about outside of work? Spending time with my family is very important to me.
Q: Favorite place to eat in Columbus? I really enjoy going to Café Istanbul with my husband.
Q: Favorite quote? “Silence is the best answer to anger.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Q: Do you have a favorite book or movie? It might be a bit of an oldie but Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan.
Q: It’s 9 p.m. on a Saturday. What are you doing? I am most likely on the couch with my family getting ready to spend an hour deciding on a movie for us all to watch.
Q: Give three adjectives that best describe yourself. Quiet. Caring. Driven.