Val Ackerman
| Val Ackerman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 1st President of the WNBA | |
| Succeeded by | Donna Orender |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 7, 1959 Lakewood Township, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Charles Rappaport |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
University of Virginia University of California, Los Angeles |
Valerie B. "Val" Ackerman (born November 7, 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey) 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 1996-2005. She is an attorney, sports executive, and former basketball player.
Ackerman was born in 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, but grew up in Pennington, New Jersey, United States. Her grandfather was director of athletics for the state of New Jersey, and her father was director of athletics at Ackerman's own high school.
Ackerman graduated in 1977 from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Ackerman's 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. In addition to basketball and field hockey, Ackerman 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 graduated from the University of Virginia in 1981, where 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, Ackerman 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. Ackerman also earned a law 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.
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