Foundation Gift Drives Ackerman Center Growth

A $1.1 million gift from the Edward and Wilhelmina Ackerman Foundation continues a family’s multigenerational support of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas. The gift will support 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 continuing 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.” 

Generous support from Edward M. Ackerman led to the creation of the center, and the family foundation has invested in graduate fellowships in Holocaust studies, the development of undergraduate programs and the growth of educational outreach. 

Dr. Nils Roemer, interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, said the foundation’s support has been transformational. 

“It’s not just a way of supporting the work of the center but actually transforming the center every time they’ve made a major gift,” said Roemer, who also directs the center. 

The foundation’s most recent contribution will benefit 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 its 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,” Roemer said. “The support of the Ackerman family has been one of the driving forces behind this constant growth of the Ackerman Center.”