Carl William Ackerman (January 16, 1890 in Richmond, Indiana[1] – October 9, 1970 in New York City)[2] was an American journalist, author and educational administrator, the first dean of the Columbia School of Journalism.

In 1919, as a correspondent of the Public Ledger of Philadelphia, he published the first excerpts of an English translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion but changed the text so that it appeared to be a Bolshevik tract.

[6] In 1931 Ackerman was recruited to serve as the director and, later, as the first dean, of Columbia University's School of Journalism graduate program.

The Journalism Department was established in 191w by an estate gift of Joseph Pulitzer, a major publisher in Saint Louis and New York City.

Ackerman was a provocative figure; for instance, he accused the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt of fascism, and attempts to control journalism.