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."

For a complete listing of the inductees' accomplishments, visit the website of the Institute for International Sport.