UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School laments the recent passing of donor and friend of the school Marshall Ackerman on Sunday, February 7th, 2016. Marshall, along with his late wife Carol, were long-time supporters of the school, providing funding for the new Education Building construction, and therefore the fourth floor terrace is named in their honor.
In 2012 Marshall Ackerman’s generous gift in memory of his wife funded the creation of the Carol Ackerman Positive Psychology Clinic. The Clinic, housed in the Hosford Counseling & Psychological Services Clinic, provides services that foster the development of healthy toddlers, school-age children, adults, and families, while also providing state-of-the-art research and training in applied Positive Psychology.
“He was witty and fun as well as a wine enthusiast,” recalls Professor Collie Conoley, Director of the Carol Ackerman Positive Psychology Clinic. “His son wrote that many times Marshall remarked that he wished his epitaph to read, ‘Like a fine wine, he might have breathed a bit longer.’”
Marshall spent his career with Rodale Press, where he was Vice-Chairman and publisher of Prevention Magazine, which he helped launch and bring to a circulation of four million (making it the 13th largest magazine in America). Along the way, he was also publisher of Organic Gardening and Theatre Crafts and part of the team that made a success of Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Bicycling, and Backpacker.
Marshall was a combat scout with the army infantry in World War II, earning the Purple Heart (bullet wound to right arm) and Bronze Star Medal for “Heroic Achievement in Ground Combat Against the Armed Enemy." On a lesser scale but to all who knew Marshall, especially family members, he was no less a hero.
Marshall returned to Harvard for his A.B. and Northwestern for his Masters in Journalism thanks to the GI bill. Among his many other lifetime achievements, in Santa Barbara he served as Chairman of the American Institute of Wine & Food; longtime member of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education’s Dean’s Ambassadors Circle; vice-chairman of the UCSB Communications Department Advisory Board; as well as a frequent consultant to the health food and health media industries locally and regionally. Marshall was also an avid collector of President William McKinley memorabilia, First Day Covers, European taper sticks, First Edition books, weimaraners, and numerous other more trivial pursuits. He is survived by his three children (Stark, Scott, Marc) and sister Irene.
A website wherein friends may post a tribute to Marshall can be accessed via http://marshall.ackerman.muchloved.com.