President of USA Basketball and Former President of the WNBA

An Evening With Val Ackerman

Val Ackerman is the founding and former President of the WNBA (1997-2005), the pre-eminent women’s professional sports organization in the world. Ms. Ackerman is currently the first female President of USA Basketball, the recognized governing body for basketball in the United States by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in the Olympics and other FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions.

Ms. Ackerman joined the NBA in 1988 as a staff attorney and served as special assistant to Commissioner David Stern, director of business affairs and vice president of business affairs prior to her appointment to head the WNBA in 1996. Ms. 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 played professional basketball in France before graduating from UCLA School of Law in 1985, and she worked for two years as an associate at the New York law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.