Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg

Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg (born 1961) is an academic administrator and engineering professor who is the eleventh president of the University of Tampa.

Dahlberg was born in 1961 and raised near Uniontown, Pennsylvania in a Lebanese American family of six children.^[1][2] She earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from University of Pittsburgh.^[3]

From 1984 to 1994, Dahlberg was an engineer with IBM,^[4][3] where she received the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (1989). While working at IBM, she completed a master's degree and Ph.D. in computer engineering from North Carolina State University (1993).^[3][5] Her doctoral dissertation was titled Dependability Evaluation of Large Systems with Dependent Failures Using a Hierarchical Network Model.^[2]

Dahlberg began her academic career as a visiting assistant professor in computer science at Winthrop University (1994-1995). From 1995 to 2013, she was the associate dean of the college of computing and informatics at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.^[4][3] She was a principal investigator who researched computer education, computing, and wireless networking.^[6] At UNC Charlotte, she founded the Diversity in Information Technology Institute, an action research center that strengthened the STEM pipeline from K-12 to the professoriate. She co-founded and directed the STARS Computing Corps, a National Science Foundation Alliance for Broadening Participation in Computing, and engaged over 50 colleges and universities in student-led regional engagement from 2006 through 2013. She was recognized as a Woman of Distinction for STEM Education (2012) by the Girl Scouts Hornets’ Nest Council, as a Diversity in Business Catalyst (2006) and as Woman of the Year at Charlotte (2005).^[7][8]

She worked as the chief academic officer and dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at Cooper Union in New York from 2013 to 2015.^[4][9] Her time at Cooper Union, during its financial crisis and tuition protests, ended with her resignation shortly after a series of controversial allegations (including plagiarism of academic program proposals and bypassing faculty governance structures) were made by a group of alumni and students^[10][11] as well as the state attorney general.^{[12] [13]}

From 2015 to 2019, Dahlberg worked as the dean of the college of engineering and computer science at Syracuse University.^[3][4] She was also a professor of electrical engineering and computer science while at Syracuse.^[14] On March 1, 2019, Dahlberg became the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs of Texas Christian University.^[15]

In December 2023, she was named as the incoming eleventh president of University of Tampa.^[4] She succeeded Ronald L. Vaughn on June 1, 2024.^[4]