Bernice Chu was trained as an architect and has worked as a designer and project and construction manager for Wall Street firms, universities and cultural institutions.  Chu became a museum specialist concentrating on building design, facilities, and operations.  She has worked and consulted for the New York Botanical Garden, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.  Her most recent assignments were as founding director of the James Museum in St. Petersburg, FL and as museum operations consultant for the International African American Museum in Charleston, SC.