Val Ackerman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valerie B. "Val" Ackerman grew up in Pennington, New Jersey. She is an attorney, sports executive, and former basketball player. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996-2005.
[edit] College years
Ackerman graduated from the University of Virginia in 1981, where she was a four-year starter for the women's basketball team and a two-time Academic All-American. She also earned a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and worked for two years as an associate at the New York law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
[edit] Career
Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. Then in 1988, she served as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association and as special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern, director of business affairs and vice president of business affairs prior to her appointment to head the WNBA in 1996. Val lives in New York City with her husband Charlie and her two daughters Sally and Emily.
From 1995-1996 she was a driving force behind the creation of the historic USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team program that culminated with a 60-0 record and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
On August 7, 1996 Ackerman was named president of the WNBA. Over the course of her historic term, Ackerman would become the first women ever to successfully launch a women's team oriented sports league for the duration of 8 years. On February 1, 2005 Ackerman stepped down, Donna Orender was named as her successor.
She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Board of Trustees for the March of Dimes, the National Board of Directors of Girls Incorporated, and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
In May 2005 she became the first female president of USA Basketball for the 2005-2008 term succeeding Tom Jernstedt from 2000-2004.
| Preceded by Mark Johnson Gary Lawrence Paul McDonald Greg Meredith Joan Benoit Samuelson Dave Stoldt |
Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) Class of 2006 Valerie Ackerman Danny Ainge Charles Davis Terry Schroeder Mike Singletary Susan Wellington |
Succeeded by Gail Koziara Boudreaux Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines Steve Jordan Patricia Melton Ann Woods Smith William Stetson, M.D. |
