International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) CEO Virginia Rometty, who took over from Sam Palmisano back in January, will now also take his spot as chairman of the board.

Rometty is one of the freshest faces at any of the 30 companies that are a part of the The Dow Jones Industrial Average, and this move will “complete her ascent … as leader of the century-old company,” Bloomberg reports.

Palmisano will step down on Oct. 1, and Rometty will take over that same day. The former-CEO will serve as senior advisor until he retires in December.

Both leaders were employees who worked their way up through the ranks at IBM to become chief executives.

Rometty is credited with playing a key role in the integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting before she was CEO, for example. Since her promotion to the top, IBM also snatched up employee recruiting and retention software solution developer Kenexa (NYSE:KNXA).

Rometty marks the company’s first female leader, and one of the still few high-ranking women in the corporate world. In fact, she was named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune this month and has made the top 50 list for eight straight years.

Shares of IBM are up more than 11% since January, making for 17% gains over the last 12 months.

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