VALERIE B. ACKERMAN NAMED U.VA. WOMEN'S CENTER
 1997 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA

President of the Women's National Basketball Association
 to Receive Award Oct. 17

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 12 -- Twenty years ago, when Val
Ackerman was winning fans as a University of Virginia Cavalier
basketball star, an American women's professional basketball league
was just a dream.  Now Ackerman is President of the brand new Women's
National Basketball Association (WNBA) and working on winning fans for
the future of U.S. women's basketball.  Owned by the member teams of
the National Basketball Association, the WNBA starts play in June with
eight charter teams. 
	Val Ackerman will receive the 1997 U.Va. Women's Center
Distinguished Alumna Award on Oct. 17 at a gala dinner at the home of
U.Va. President John T. Casteen III.  The dinner benefits the Women's
Center.
	A 1981 graduate of U.Va., with honors in political and social
thought, Ackerman was a four-year starter for the Cavaliers and
recognized twice for her outstanding grades as an Academic
All-American.  A two-time All-ACC Second Team selection, she was U.Va.
captain for three years and a member of Coach Debbie Ryan's first
20-win team.
	After playing one season of professional basketball in France,
Ackerman entered UCLA School of Law, receiving her law degree in 1985.
She joined a Wall Street law firm before starting her career with the
NBA in 1988 as a staff attorney and rose to Vice President of Business
Affairs by 1994.
	As a member of the Board of Directors of USA Basketball, the
governing body for all amateur basketball teams, Ackerman helped
create the 1995-96 USA Basketball Women's National Team program.
After compiling a 60-0 record during a year-long tour against
collegiate and international competition, the National Team won the
gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
	Ackerman, who lives in New York City with her husband, Charles
Rappaport, and daughters Emily and Sally, currently serves on the USA
Basketball Executive Committee and is a member of the Board of
Trustees for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the
Board of Directors for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. 
	The U.Va. Women's Center established the annual Distinguished
Alumna Award in 1991 to honor a female U.Va. graduate who has
demonstrated excellence, leadership and extraordinary commitment to
her field, and who has used her talents as a positive force for
change.  Previous honorees are attorney Linda Fairstein, head of the
Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit of the New York City District Attorney's
Office; Vivian W. Pinn, M.D., Director of the NIH Office of Research
on Women's Health; journalist Katie Couric; astronaut Kathryn
Thornton; Middle East peace activist Hanan Ashrawi; and Rear Admiral
Mariann Stratton, Nurse Corps, U.S. Navy, Retired.
	
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April 11, 1997
	For more information, call Donna Plaskett, associate director
of the U.Va. Women's Center, at (804) 924-3946 or send e-mail to
dp4q@virginia.edu..  Television reporters should call the U.Va. TV
News Office at (804) 924-7550.