TAMPA, Fla. — March is Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the contributions of women all over the country, and Spectrum News is recognizing the incoming president of the University of Tampa.

UT is preparing to welcome its first new president in nearly 30 years, who will also be its first female president. Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg will take over for President Ronald Vaughn when he retires on June 1.

Dahlberg said she is making an effort to put herself out there by taking the time to meet students and connect with her new community — and soon, UT’s campus will feel more like home when she takes on her new role.

“I am just engaging with people now," Dahlberg said. "I’m really kind of meeting people, and learning what their aspirations are, starting to think about the future."

With a background in engineering and more than two decades in higher education, Dahlberg said being the first woman in a position isn’t a first for her. Most recently, she served as the first female provost at Texas Christian University.

“I’m honored to be the first female president," she said. "Because of my discipline, which is engineering, I have been a first throughout my entire career in almost everything that I’ve done, including the first provost at TCU. So I’m thrilled to be joining UT."

Dahlberg said she is proud to join a school like the University of Tampa that has female leaders in high-level positions, and she hopes to be a role model for young women and help them pursue their dreams, no matter what they may be.

“I started college as a music therapy major, and honestly, I was working three jobs, paying my own way, and my starting salary was supposed to be lower than my tuition," she said. "And I loved math, and I wanted something more mathematical, so I landed in electrical engineering and I loved it."

Dahlberg said music and math actually go hand in hand, and as she prepares for her next adventure at UT, she has one message for all students.

“My advice is: Go for it. Go for what you’re passionate about," she said. "It doesn’t matter if people who look like you are also in that field, because you can be the one who changes that.”

Dahlberg will be the University of Tampa’s 11th president.