James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship
The James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship provides programs and resources to help educators prepare the next generation of American citizens, promoting active student involvement in schools and communities.
About
Powerful Citizenship Education
The founders of the United States believed strongly in public education’s role in fostering the habits of mind, and the dispositions of the heart, required for successful participation in a constitutional republic.
The Ackerman Center seeks to integrate civic and economic education in K-12 classrooms in an attempt to promote this civic mission of schools and to provide programs, and resources for educators to implement more powerful citizenship education that results in active student involvement in their schools and communities.
Our goal is to help prepare students to take on the highest office in the land…that of citizen!
Meet James F. Ackerman
James F. Ackerman was committed to improving participation in our democratic society and wanted to fund a Center that would promote civics, economics, and ethics. In 1994, he gave a generous gift to the School of Education at Purdue University to endow the Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship.
Career and Personal Life
Ackerman was a resident of Indianapolis, an active member of the business community, and a philanthropist supporting causes such as Muscular Dystrophy and numerous others. Jim was a Purdue graduate (in Agricultural Economics) and maintained close ties to the University, also giving a significant gift to help fund the Ackerman Hills Golf Course at Purdue.
He was a pioneer in the cable industry, having begun financing cable companies in 1959 as Senior Vice President of Economy Finance and Executive Vice President of Indianapolis Morris Plan, an Indiana Industrial Bank. Ackerman spent 24 years with these companies before creating his own specialized cable investment firm in 1971. The firm was merged in 1973 and became Becker Communication Associates, a cable TV venture capital company. From 1971 to 1993, he served as the CEO of Cardinal Communications, a cable television company headquartered in Indianapolis that operated cable systems throughout the state of Indiana. The company was sold in 1993, at which time it was the 70th largest cable operation in the United States. He was the President of Cardinal Ventures, LLC, a private equity firm formed in 1993 to invest in growth companies throughout the Midwest. Additionally, he served as the President of Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Ackerman was married to Lois Ackerman and had three children and four grandchildren.
Resources
Library of Liberty
The Library of Liberty makes available a wide variety of resources and books donated by the Liberty Fund, Inc. and Purdue University faculty. Materials are available for check out to anyone and the Library is located in the Ackerman Center in Beering Hall 4115. The Library of Liberty is also a great place for small group meetings. Please contact us to reserve the room in advance.
The Ackerman Center Library of Liberty is now searchable through the Teaching Resource Center search engine. Items listed as “Ackerman Center” in the Location field are in BRNG 4115.
The collection includes:
- Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Textbooks
- Social Studies Methods Resources
- Children’s Literature focused on Social Studies Topics such as:
- Culture
- Holocaust Education
- History
- Large Selection of Biographies
- Foundational Texts in History, Law, Politics and Democracy, donated by the Liberty Fund, Inc.
Professional Development
Professional Development for Teachers
The Ackerman Center’s Professional Development programming supports K-12 educators in implementing high-quality social studies, civics, or economics education in the classroom. The Center offers multiple formats of professional development, including an evening series during the school year and a Summer Institute, a week-long intensive workshop on a specific topic. The goal of our programming is to support elementary and secondary teachers in developing classroom-ready instructional strategies and activities focused on the skills and dispositions associated with citizenship.
Past topics have included Creating Digital Content for the Social Studies Classroom, Incorporating Social Studies into the 90-minute Literacy Block, and Citizenship Literacy.
Academic Programs
Take the next step and apply for one of our Social Studies programs
Our Team
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