Teresa Dahlberg had always loved math. She missed being able to do it regularly as a freshman music therapy major at Pittsburgh’s Carlow College, so she decided to transfer to University of Pittsburgh with a major in electrical engineering.

“Somebody told me engineering and math go together, so I became an engineering major,” Dahlberg said.

Since then, Dahlberg’s career has spanned over 30 years in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science. Since the beginning of the academic year, she has served as the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, which is celebrating National Engineers Week this week.

In her first year as dean, one of her initial goals has been to grow the number of faculty in order to better the student to faculty ratio. She will also be launching Engineering@Syracuse, an online graduate degree program, in October through a partnership with the online education company 2U Inc.

Prior to Dahlberg’s arrival, a strategic plan had been created to distinguish what areas of research the college will focus on. After she got to campus, she met with faculty to revalidate the areas of research — which are in health, water and energy — and ensure this is still what the college’s faculty are interested in doing, she said.

Moriah Ratner | Staff Photographer

Can Isik, the senior associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said the first thing Dahlberg did when she got to campus was meet with every staff member one-on-one, before doing the same thing with department chairs. She’s currently in the process of doing the same with faculty members, Isik added.

Isik said the meetings have served to quickly establish a rapport with everybody, adding that people already feel like they can approach Dahlberg with any concerns or questions they may have.

“She does always have a very contagious smile. It really brings a very positive energy to not only the dean’s office, but to the college,” Isik said. “Her reaching out to staff and faculty members individually is not just for show. It’s a reflection of her personality.”

Dahlberg said that having so many meetings makes her feel like she can’t get any “real work” done, but she said she recognizes that this is her work.

As dean, Dahlberg said she has two jobs: one internal and one external. Internally, Dahlberg said she tries to motivate and lead faculty and staff to create new plans and goals and push away any roadblocks to create a climate that enables the best education and research.

Externally, Dahlberg said she must advocate for the college for the resources needed and to promote its work nationally.

Dahlberg received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1984 and began working right away as a product development engineer at IBM in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. She worked for IBM for 10 years.

While there, Dahlberg said she took advantage of the educational programs the company offered and got her master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer engineering at North Carolina State University.

That’s when she decided to take the leap into academia.

“I always loved college. I mean, from the first day freshman year I loved being a student. I don’t know what it is, I just loved the challenge,” Dahlberg said. “I loved learning. I love the environment of a college. A university campus is like a way to renew yourself.”

Moriah Ratner | Staff Photographer

Dahlberg’s first job at a university was as a faculty member in the computer science department at Winthrop University, where she stayed for a year before moving into the electrical engineering department at University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1995. There, she played a part in building up the computer science department, which eventually became the College of Computing and Informatics.

Shortly after that, she started working in larger programs where she was organizing other people. She was principal investigator and director of the STARS (Students & Technology in Academia, Research and Service) Alliance — a national science foundation alliance for broadening participation and computing for students in K-12.

Dahlberg involved more than 50 universities in the alliance, requiring her to work with people across multiple disciplines, she said.

In 2013, Dahlberg got her first dean position at The Cooper Union, a small private college in New York City. As chief academic officer at The Cooper Union, Dahlberg supported a controversial proposal to start charging tuition for the first time in the school’s history. The school was sued and New York state investigated the decision.

Dahlberg was eventually cleared in the investigation. When asked about her involvement in the investigation, Dahlberg smiled and shook her head.

SU announced the hiring of Dahlberg in May 2015, shortly after she announced that she would be leaving The Cooper Union.

Mark Glauser, the associate dean of research at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said he was pleased with Dahlberg being aggressive in making sure SU understands the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Dahlberg said STEM education is important because out of the 10 top jobs that need to be filled in the United States, eight are in STEM fields.

“For decades the U.S. has been a leader in science and technology, but we’re losing our dominance,” Dahlberg said. “If we want to keep our dominance we have to appeal more to American students.”

Dahlberg added that right now is the best time to be an engineering or computer scientist.

“Therefore, it’s the best time to be the dean of an engineering or computer science college,” Dahlberg said.

Published on February 23, 2016 at 12:58 am

Contact Stacy: sfern100@syr.edu | @StacyFernandezB