Val Ackerman (Virginia, 1981), Basketball
• 1980 Second Team Academic All-America®
• 1981 First Team Academic All-America®
Val Ackerman was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 1999.
New Jersey native, Valerie “Val” Ackerman is best known for her contributions to women’s basketball both as a player and for her historic roles in both the USA Basketball Women’s Senior National Team and the WNBA. Throughout her academic, athletic, and professional career, her dedication to excellence has continually earned her well-deserved accolades and success.
Ackerman began as a standout scholar-athlete at her Hopewell Township, New Jersey high school. Graduating first in her class in 1977, Ackerman set the school record for points scored by any basketball player, male or female, at 1,755 points and she also set the school’s career scoring record for field hockey. In 1997 she was honored for her achievements by being inducted into the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Ackerman built on her high school success as a four-year starter at forward and two-time Academic All American at the University of Virginia. In 1981 Ackerman graduated with a degree in political science and social thought and went on the play one season of professional basketball in France before returning to academia. In 1985 she earned a law degree from UCLA and worked for two years as an associate at the New York law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.
In 1988 she served as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association and was special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern. Following this in 1995, Stern was the integral force behind the creation of the gold medal-winning USA Basketball Women’s Senior National Team program. Her experience as in the NBA as staff attorney, Director and later Vice President of Business Affairs, led to her appointment as head of the WNBA on August 7, 1996.
Since its inception, the WNBA has seen significant growth and ranks today as the leading women’s professional basketball league in the world, and Ackerman remains the first woman to successfully launch a women’s team-oriented sports league. In May of 2005, after guiding the WNBA for its first eight seasons, Ackerman became the first female president of USA Basketball for the 2005-2008 term, helping direct both the men and women’s teams to gold medal finishes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ackerman also currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Board of Directors of Girls Incorporated, the National Board of Trustees for the March of Dimes and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. In 1996 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and was an NCAA Silver Award recipient.