Mr. Ackerman is a 54 year resident of Indianapolis, an active member of the business community, and a philanthropist supporting causes such as Muscular Dystrophy and numerous others.He currently is President of Cardinal Ventures, LLC., a private equity firm formed in 1993 to invest in growth companies throughout the Midwest.In addition, he is President of Cardinal Golf d.b.a. Prairie View Golf Club, which developed a golf course in Carmel, Indiana.

From 1971 to 1993, Jim was the CEO of Cardinal Communications, a cable television company headquartered in Indianapolis which ran cable operations throughout the state of Indiana.This company was sold in 1993 at which time it was the 70^th largest cable operation in the U.S.In addition to successfully operating a cable television company, Jim has been a pioneer in the cable industry as he began financing cable companies in 1959 as a Senior Vice President of Economy Finance and Executive Vice President of Indianapolis Morris Plan, an Indiana Industrial Bank.Jim spent 24 years with these companies before creating his own specialized cable investment firm in 1971.This firm was merged in 1973 and became Becker Communication Associates, a cable TV venture capital company.

In 1984, he became Vice Chairman of Communication Equity, a media brokerage firm specializing in communication companies.Jim served in this role until 1988.He also served as an advisor to Merrill Lynch from 1984 to 1987 assisting them in taking five cable-related companies public.

He is a past board member of the Indiana Cable Television Association and the National Cable Television Association, as well as TCA Cable, a public company acquired by Cox Communication in 1999.He graduated from Purdue University and recently gave a large donation to establish the James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship.

Jim is married to Lois Ackerman and has three children and four grandchildren.