Big East Conference commissioner Val Ackerman announced her retirement on Monday after 13 years as one of the most powerful women in college sports.
Ackerman, 66, is leaving her position on Aug. 31. A national search for her successor will commence immediately, the league said in a news release.
“It’s been an extraordinary honor for me to serve as the Commissioner of one of the most prestigious and storied organizations in college sports,” Ackerman said.
“… With our long-term business deals securely in place and knowing we have strong, focused leadership on our campuses, I am confident that the future of the conference, and Big East basketball in particular, is very bright, and I believe the time is right for me to hand off the baton.”
Ackerman was named the Big East’s fifth commissioner on June 26, 2013. She guided a period of transition after Butler, Creighton and Xavier joined seven existing members (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova) for the 2013-14 season. She also led the negotiations that brought Connecticut back to the league in 2020.
League members have won four men’s national championships since her arrival — more than any other conference: Villanova (2016, 2018) and UConn (2023, 2024).
“When we re-founded the Big East in 2013 as a basketball-centric conference, our first task was to find a commissioner who could provide the strategic vision needed to position us as a basketball peer with the power football conferences and compete with the country’s best,” said St. John’s president Rev. Brian J. Shanley, chair of the Big East board of directors.
“We found that visionary leader in Val Ackerman. Val has leveraged our partnerships with FOX Sports and Madison Square Garden to create a platform that has produced five basketball national champions (four men’s and one’s women’s) in the past decade, and she has built a strong foundation for future success. She leaves big shoes to fill.”
Ackerman has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
