University of Tampa president to step down

Less than three years after taking the job as president of the University of Tampa, Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg is stepping down.

She will leave the school at the end of the fall semester, the university announced in a statement Friday afternoon, saying “she will be resigning her position for personal reasons.”

Dahlberg was hired by the University of Tampa in December 2023 and took over June 1, 2024. She was the school’s 11th president.

She replaced Ronald L. Vaughn, the legendary president who led the university for 30 years and is credited with nothing short of transforming “the campus into a dynamic, cutting-edge community that has some of the most innovative learning and living spaces in the country.”

The university did not respond to a question Friday about when the Board of Trustees was informed of her decision.

The search for her replacement has already begun with the university hiring the search firm AGB.

Dahlberg says in the statement that serving as president of the University of Tampa “has been an honor.”

“I am grateful to all university stakeholders for their commitment to this remarkable university,” she says. “I especially thank the administration and staff whose talent, dedication, and hard work made our accomplishments possible.”

Before coming to the University of Tampa, Dahlberg was provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Texas Christian University.

According to her biography on the university’s website, she was a professor of computer science and engineering at TCU as well as being its chief academic officer.

Before joining TCU in 2019, she was dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University in New York. There, according to the biography, she launched strategic and advancement plans focused on students’ experience, research and diversity and inclusion. She also created and led the college fundraising campaign that “meaningfully contributed” to Syracuse’s $1.5 billion Forever Orange capital campaign.

She was also chief academic officer and dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and associate dean of the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and earned both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.

“She has brought energy, vision, and a commitment to student success to her presidency,” the school says in the statement.

“Her work to strengthen the university’s strategic and financial foundation and engage our community in planning for its future will benefit UTampa in the years ahead. We appreciate her contributions and wish her and her family every happiness in their next chapter.”