Val Ackerman to be Inducted into Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame
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June 19, 2003
KINGSTON, R.I. – Former Virginia women’s basketball player Val Ackerman (1978-81) leads the 2003 class of inductees into the Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, the Institute for International Sport announced.
The 18 individual honorees and three championship teams will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 22 at the Institute for International Sport as part of the United States Scholar-Athlete Games. The Scholar-Athlete Games, held June 21-29, attract 1,000 high school students from across the nation to the University of Rhode Island for participation in a number of activities in athletics and the arts.
Ackerman was a four-year starter and two-time Academic All-American. Also a two-time second team all-state honoree and two-time All-ACC honoree, she graduated with high distinction. The Jettie Hill Award winner for the highest GPA among UVa women athletes, Ackerman received the UVa Distinguished Alumna Award in 1997. She was inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 1999. Last fall, Ackerman was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Women?s Basketball Team. Currently the President of the Women?s National Basketball Association (WNBA), she serves on the Board of Directors of USA Basketball and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Following graduation, Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one year before entering law school at UCLA. After earning her degree in 1985, she spent two years with a New York law firm before joining the NBA as a staff attorney in 1988. She later served as special assistant to the Commissioner from 1990-92 and vice president of business affairs from 1994-96. In 1996, Ackerman was named President of the WNBA.
“It is truly an honor for me to be inducted into the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame and to join past honorees such as John Wooden and Sally Ride in the Hall,? Ackerman said. “For me, academics and athletics went hand-in-hand with academics improving my analytical ability on the court and athletics giving me the discipline and self-confidence to achieve off the court.”
2003 Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame Inductees
Val Ackerman, President of the WNBA
Clair Bee, men’s basketball coach at Rider/Long Island, writer
Moe Berg, professional baseball player, spy
Father John Brooks, President of the College of the Holy Cross
Bill Cohen, Senator, former Secretary of Defense
Jody Conradt, Texas women’s basketball coach
Pat Conroy, writer, The Prince of Tides
Bud Greenspan, Olympic filmmaker
Oren Lyons, professor at SUNY at Buffalo, Native American causes
Christy Mathewson, baseball player
Bob Mathias, Olympic gold medalist (decathlon), movie star, Congressman
Patsy Mink, Congresswoman
Charlie Moore, Olympic gold medalist (track), Cornell athletic director
Frank Queen, sports writer
Dr. Jack Ramsay, NBA coach
Frank Shorter, Olympic gold medalist (marathon), sports commentator
Kathrine Switzer, first female Boston Marathon runner
Franklin Thomas, former President & CEO of the Ford Foundation
Cal Tech Football Team (1944)
comprised of men returning from war;
played just four games and won by a combined 159-0
Delta State Women’s Basketball Team (1977)
won three NAIA national championships
Williams College Women’s Lacrosse Team (1996)
No. 1 undefeated squad, prohibited from NCAA Tournament play
by school president due to scheduling conflict with final exams
For a complete listing of the inductees’ accomplishments, visit the website of the Institute for International Sport.