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Val Ackerman
Valerie B. Ackerman (born November 7, 1959) is an American sports executive, lawyer, and former basketball player. She is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996 to 2005. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Ackerman was born in 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, but grew up in Pennington, New Jersey, United States. She was raised Roman Catholic. Her grandfather was director of athletics for Trenton State College, and her father was director of athletics at her own high school.
She graduated in 1977 from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Her 1466 points set the school's varsity basketball career record for points scored by any basketball player, male or female, and she set the school's career scoring record as a halfback in field hockey, topped off by graduating second in her class. She also ran on her school's track team. She was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997.
Ackerman was a 1979 student initiate of Omicron Delta Kappa from the University of Virginia, where she graduated in 1981. She was among the school's first female students to receive an athletic scholarship. She was a starter all four years, captain three years, and twice named Academic All-American for the women's basketball team; she was the school's first basketball player to score 1,000 points. She earned her B.A. in Political and Social Thought. In 1997 she received U. Va.'s Distinguished Alumna Award from the University's Women's Center. In 2003, she was named a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball Team. She earned a J.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and worked for two years as a corporate and banking associate at the New York City law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. In 1988, she was hired as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association and later served as special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern, before being promoted to vice-president of business affairs, prior to her appointment to head the WNBA in 1996.
In 1989, she was one of the NBA's first appointees to the board of directors of USA Basketball — the organization responsible for the selection and training of the teams that represent the United States in international tournaments, including both the World Cup and the Olympics. In that capacity, she acted as a liaison between the NBA and USA Basketball regarding the 1992 Olympics, 1994 World Championships and 1996 Olympics. From 1995 to 1996, she was a driving force behind the creation of the USA Basketball Women's National Team program that culminated with a 60–0 record and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
On August 7, 1996, she was named president of the WNBA. Over the course of her historic eight-year term, she would become the first woman ever to successfully launch and operate a women's team sports league. On February 1, 2005 she stepped down, and Donna Orender was named as her successor; Laurel Richie succeeded Orender in 2011. In April 2005, Ackerman was named to Sports Business Journal's list of "the 20 Most Influential Women in Sports Business."
In May 2005, she became the first female president of USA Basketball for the 2005–2008 term, succeeding Tom Jernstedt from the NCAA, who served from 2000 to 2004. During her term, she oversaw a restructuring of the USA Basketball Board of Directors, and gold medal performances by the men's and women's basketball teams at the Beijing Olympics.
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Val Ackerman
Valerie B. Ackerman (born November 7, 1959) is an American sports executive, lawyer, and former basketball player. She is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996 to 2005. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Ackerman was born in 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, but grew up in Pennington, New Jersey, United States. She was raised Roman Catholic. Her grandfather was director of athletics for Trenton State College, and her father was director of athletics at her own high school.
She graduated in 1977 from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Her 1466 points set the school's varsity basketball career record for points scored by any basketball player, male or female, and she set the school's career scoring record as a halfback in field hockey, topped off by graduating second in her class. She also ran on her school's track team. She was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997.
Ackerman was a 1979 student initiate of Omicron Delta Kappa from the University of Virginia, where she graduated in 1981. She was among the school's first female students to receive an athletic scholarship. She was a starter all four years, captain three years, and twice named Academic All-American for the women's basketball team; she was the school's first basketball player to score 1,000 points. She earned her B.A. in Political and Social Thought. In 1997 she received U. Va.'s Distinguished Alumna Award from the University's Women's Center. In 2003, she was named a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary Women's Basketball Team. She earned a J.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and worked for two years as a corporate and banking associate at the New York City law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. In 1988, she was hired as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association and later served as special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern, before being promoted to vice-president of business affairs, prior to her appointment to head the WNBA in 1996.
In 1989, she was one of the NBA's first appointees to the board of directors of USA Basketball — the organization responsible for the selection and training of the teams that represent the United States in international tournaments, including both the World Cup and the Olympics. In that capacity, she acted as a liaison between the NBA and USA Basketball regarding the 1992 Olympics, 1994 World Championships and 1996 Olympics. From 1995 to 1996, she was a driving force behind the creation of the USA Basketball Women's National Team program that culminated with a 60–0 record and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
On August 7, 1996, she was named president of the WNBA. Over the course of her historic eight-year term, she would become the first woman ever to successfully launch and operate a women's team sports league. On February 1, 2005 she stepped down, and Donna Orender was named as her successor; Laurel Richie succeeded Orender in 2011. In April 2005, Ackerman was named to Sports Business Journal's list of "the 20 Most Influential Women in Sports Business."
In May 2005, she became the first female president of USA Basketball for the 2005–2008 term, succeeding Tom Jernstedt from the NCAA, who served from 2000 to 2004. During her term, she oversaw a restructuring of the USA Basketball Board of Directors, and gold medal performances by the men's and women's basketball teams at the Beijing Olympics.