NEW YORK -- The BIG EAST Conference today announced that Commissioner Val Ackerman has entered into a three-year contract extension through June 30, 2024.  Ackerman was appointed the conference’s fifth Commissioner on June 26, 2013.

“Val’s contributions and value to the BIG EAST Conference cannot be overstated,” said Chair of the BIG EAST Conference Board of Directors and Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “Val has been an integral part of the conference’s success and growth since our restructuring in 2013, and her astute leadership and vast experience have been integral in shepherding the conference through numerous opportunities and challenges. She has been a driving force in advancing the conference nationally, promoting the values of our member institutions and prioritizing excellence in academics and athletics. We are thrilled that Val will continue to be at the helm of the BIG EAST for the foreseeable future.”
 
In her nearly eight years at the helm of the BIG EAST, Ackerman has presided over the rebirth of the conference following its reconfiguration in 2013 to its present basketball-centric make-up.  Most recently, she spearheaded the return to the conference of the University of Connecticut, a BIG EAST charter member, effective July 1, 2020, bringing the number of current BIG EAST schools to 11.  In 2018, Ackerman led the negotiations that resulted in an extension through 2028 of the BIG EAST’s long-standing venue licensing agreement with Madison Square Garden, home of the BIG EAST men’s basketball tournament for the past 38 years.   In 2019, she was appointed co-chair of the NCAA’s Federal and State Legislation Working Group, which in April 2020 recommended to the NCAA Board of Governors groundbreaking changes to rules relating to student-athlete name, image and likeness.  Ackerman served on the NCAA’s Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee from 2015-19.
 
Following its return to its basketball heritage, the BIG EAST has continued its national excellence in the sport over the past seven years, as ten of the league’s 11 men’s basketball programs have received NCAA Tournament bids since 2013-14, capped by Villanova’s national championship titles in 2016 and 2018.     In 2019, a national team made up of BIG EAST players and coaches brought home the bronze medal for the United States in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

BIG EAST accomplishments among its 20 Olympic sports include Georgetown’s national championship in men’s soccer in 2019.   BIG EAST student-athletes have also maintained a high level of success in the classroom, with the conference earning no lower than second place among all 32 Division I conferences in the NCAA’s past three Graduation Success Rate annual rankings.  Ackerman has also guided the BIG EAST’s efforts to spur gender and racial equity in the sports industry and the conference’s continuing initiatives around mental health, student-athlete development and esports.

Ackerman said: “It’s been a tremendous honor to lead the BIG EAST over the past seven-plus years, and I’m very proud of the work done by our institutions during that time to sustain the conference’s leadership position on the national college sports landscape.  I want to commend our conference office staff for their outstanding efforts and exceptional dedication, particularly in the face of the challenges brought on by COVID-19 over the past 10 months.   I look forward to working with our Presidents, Athletics Directors, administrators, coaches and student-athletes in the years to come as we build on our proud history, maintain our standards of excellence in academics and athletics, and collaborate with colleagues throughout the NCAA to address our sector’s future opportunities and challenges.”

Ackerman currently serves on the Board of Directors for Women Leaders in College Sports and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and is a member of the recently formed U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee College Sports Sustainability Think Tank. She serves as a mentor in the U.S. State Department’s Global Sports Mentoring Program and is an advisor to the Vatican’s Sport at the Service of Humanity initiative.