Ackerman was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in nearby Irvington, where he graduated from Irvington High School before earning his undergraduate degree at Seton Hall University.[1][2] He received a Bachelor of Laws from Rutgers Law School in 1951. He engaged in the private practice of law in New Jersey from 1951 to 1954. From 1955 to 1979, he was a judge on various New Jersey courts - on the Compensation Court of the State of New Jersey (1955–1965); the Union County District Court (to 1970); the Union County Court until (to 1973); the Superior Court, Law Division (to 1975); and the Superior Court, Chancery Division, General Equity (to 1979).[3]
^Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1984, p. 1004. Accessed April 6, 2022. "Harold A. Ackerman, Springfield... After graduation from Irvington High School, he attended Seton Hall University."