University of Texas at Dallas: New Ackerman Gift Enhances Online Learning in Holocaust Studies
A $1.1 million gift from the Edward and Wilhelmina Ackerman Foundation continues the family’s multigenerational support of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas.
The gift will enhance the center’s internationally recognized scholarship while expanding its outreach mission through online learning.
“Today, the lessons of the Holocaust are more important than ever, which means the Ackerman Center’s mission is vital to continue that engagement with the past, a mission that means so much to my family,” said David B. Ackerman, president of the Ackerman Foundation and chairman of the Ackerman Center Advisory Board. “I am pleased that the Edward and Wilhelmina Ackerman Foundation is again contributing to the ongoing, timeless mission of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies.”
Edward Ackerman was a prominent Dallas investment advisor, philanthropist and community leader who died in 2016. He made his first donation to the Holocaust Studies Program in 1993. Generous support from Edward and Wilhelmina Ackerman led to the creation of the center in 2006.
The family foundation has invested in graduate fellowships in Holocaust studies, the development of undergraduate programs and the growth of educational outreach.
“The foundation’s way of giving not only supports the work of the center, but also has actually transformed the center every time they’ve made a major gift,” said Dr. Nils Roemer, director of the center and the first dean of the future School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
“Today, the lessons of the Holocaust are more important than ever, which means the Ackerman Center’s mission is vital to continue that engagement with the past, a mission that means so much to my family.”
David B. Ackerman, president of the Ackerman Foundation
The foundation’s most recent contribution will expand the center’s endowment, support the growth of online educational programming and fund a new biennial awards gala. According to Roemer, the funding for online and digital learning is particularly important because it will create new avenues for programs beyond the UT Dallas campus to fulfill the center’s outreach mission.
“Over the last two and a half years, we have become early adopters of online learning technologies, and this new major gift is compelling us to create what we call ‘Ackerman Center 2.0’ — in other words, a digital or online version of ourselves,” said Roemer, the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies. “The support of the Ackerman family has been one of the driving forces behind this constant growth of the Ackerman Center.”