Bill Ackerman (1984) - Hall of Fame

Bill Ackerman

Induction:
1984

From the time he took over as UCLA tennis' player-coach in 1921 until his retirement in 1967 as the director of Associated Students at UCLA, Bill Ackerman, nicknamed "Mr. UCLA," had his finger on the pulse of the campus more than almost any other person in school history. Ackerman coached the Bruins' tennis team through the 1950 season, when he stepped down because of his ever-increasing duties as general manager of the Associated Students (the forerunner to the director's post). His final Bruin team won the school’s first NCAA title.

Ackerman also served as Athletic Director from 1933-1939. During his AD term, he helped restart the football rivalry with USC, which had stopped after the first 2 games. The student union later was named for Ackerman, who was the UCLA alumnus of the year in 1947. He helped establish Spring Sing, Homecoming, the Coliseum Relays, was a member of the Southern California Olympic Committee, and was inducted into the College Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.

Ackerman, who died at 85 in 1988, was a charter member of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.