James Ackerman with the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale, 2008
James Ackerman, Fellow, Resident, and trustee from 1967 to 1984 died on December 31, 2016, at the age of 97.
Professor Ackerman was well known and loved by the entire Academy community. There are few who did not have the privilege of joining him for a walk and talk, sitting at the table with him at lunch, meeting him in the library, or watching him head off down the hill for another exploration. The Architects Newspaper has published details. "Ackerman was a prolific scholar of Italian Renaissance architects Michelangelo and Palladio as well as the architectural theory behind the Renaissance itself too." From the Harvard Gazette: "Legendary teacher 'who wore his awesome learning lightly' is remembered."