Al Ackerman profile

Regardless of the sport, regardless of the time the presence of Director of Athletics Allen Ackerman at sporting events at UW-Oshkosh is constant.

Dressed in khaki’s (usually tan), black scuffed loafers and a pullover with the Titan logo embroidered on the chest, fans, parents and athletes can expect to see Ackerman at Titan home games.

Born the son of Sue and Ken in Bel Air, Ohio on January 10, 1954; Ackerman’s love for athletics could be seen early. While in high school in Athens, Ohio Ackerman excelled in track and field and football.

Following high school Ackerman attended the Ohio University on a partial football scholarship. During his stay at Ohio, Ackerman lettered twice, once in both track and football while also graduating with a degree in physical education.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in physical education from Ohio, Ackerman taught for a year and a half at a high school before returned to Ohio to work on his masters and as a graduate assistant football coach.

Prior to accepting the position at UWO, Ackerman was athletic director at Elmhurst College in Illinois for 14 year. Ackerman also spent some time coaching track and football at Elmhurst.

During Ackerman’s 14 year stay at UWO the athletic department has seen enormous success in the development of its sports teams.

Ackerman’s tenure at UWO has yielded 13 Division III national championship teams.

This success has resulted in the development of a new way of thinking at UWO, being top notch on all ends of the spectrum. One end of the spectrum that has gotten a lot of attention from Ackerman is the upgrading of the facilities on UWO.

“I think that the thing that I am most proud of UWO is the start of the remodeling and reconstruction of the facilities at UWO,” said Ackerman.

In the summer of 2004 renovations to Titan Stadium began with the installation of a new field turf surface to be used for both high school and college soccer and football.

Renovation is slated to continue this spring with the installation of a new track surface surrounding the field.

Shortly after the Oshkosh Sports Complex project started, construction began on a new facility, Alumni Stadium, for the UWO baseball team.

Both projects are supported solely by fundraised dollars.