[3] Ackerman began his communications career in 1964, and has served in numerous capacities with BellSouth.
[4] The SBC-AT&T merger created a uniquely complex situation for Ackerman with regards to Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between BellSouth and SBC.
Indeed, this issue, as well as the desire for AT&T to entirely control the highly-profitable Cingular venture, led AT&T to purchase BellSouth outright.
Ackerman serves on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and is immediate past chairman of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, as well as the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
A past chair of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, Ackerman is vice chairman of the Rollins College Board of Trustees and a former member of the Board of Governors for the Society of Sloan Fellows of MIT.