Val Ackerman

Valerie B. "Val" Ackerman was born on November 7, 1959 in New York City [http://www.birthdatabase.com/query.php] but grew up in nearby Pennington, New Jersey, United States. 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.

Ackerman graduated in 1977 from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. [ [http://www.princetoninfo.com/200510/51026s01.html "Leading the Way in Women's Sports"] , "U.S. 1 Newspaper", October 26, 2005. Accessed August 26, 2007. "Today this 1977 graduate of Pennington's Hopewell Valley Central High School is the president of USA Basketball - the national federation responsible for the selection, training, and fielding of U.S. teams that compete in international basketball competitions, including the Olympics, and for some national competitions."] Ackerman's 1,755 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 first in her class. She was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997. [ [http://www.njsiaa.org/NJSIAA/HOF_years.aspx Hall of Fame] , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 26, 2008.]

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.

Career

Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. 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. Ackerman 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 eight years. On February 1, 2005 Ackerman stepped down, and 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. [ [http://www.usabasketball.com/news/archive/05_exec_comm_election.html Val Ackerman Elected USA Basketball President] , USA Basketball press release dated March 22, 2005.]

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