Women in Sports Business Symposium
"Get Your Head in the Game: Connect with Peers, Meet a Mentor, Leave a Legacy”

Women in Sports Business Woman of the Year Award

We are happy to announce that this year, Donna A. Lopiano, Ph.D., former Chief Executive Officer of the Women's Sports Foundation, will be honored as the WSBS Woman of the Year.

Dr. Lopiano joins a distinguished group of past award recipients, including Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of World Team Tennis (WTT), Ilana Kloss, former President of the WNBA and current President of USA Basketball, Val Ackerman, and former VP of Marketing at ESPN, Lee Ann Daly.

Val Ackerman
2005 WSBS Woman of the Year Award Recipient
Former President of the WNBA
Current President of USA Basketball

Val Ackerman is the President of USA Basketball (USAB) for the 2005-08 quadrennium. As the national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States, as recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee, USAB oversees the men’s and women’s national teams that represent the U.S. in international competitions, including the Olympics, the World Championships and junior events. All major U.S. basketball organizations are represented within USAB’s membership.

In August of 2006, Ackerman was elected to a four-year term as the U.S. delegate to the twenty-person FIBA Central Board. FIBA, whose members include 214 national basketball federations, is the world governing body for the sport of basketball and serves as the basketball affiliate for the International Olympic Committee.

Ackerman was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) from its inception in 1996 until February 1, 2005. The 13-team league features the world’s best women’s basketball players, national network and corporate support and an avid fan following.

Ackerman served as an attorney and senior executive in the NBA for eight years prior to her appointment to head the WNBA. She currently serves on the the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, the Executive Committee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Board of Directors of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Board of Trustees of the March of Dimes, and the National Board of Directors of Girls Incorporated.

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. She and her husband, Charlie Rappaport, have two daughters, Emily and Sally, and live in New York City.