THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER

Marty van Steenderen served the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as its first Athletic Director-Women from 1971 to 1986.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree from UW-Madison in 1955 and her Master of Science degree from Indiana University in 1961.  Neither institution has athletic programs for women.  In the Fall of 1961 Marty joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as an Assistant Professor of Physical Education with the special assignment of directing the Women's Recreation Association.  Here the opportunity presented itself and Marty dedicated her self to providing the opportunities for women which she never had but had always longed for.  In the following twenty-five years under Marty's leadership the women's program grew from playdays to sportsdays, from an intramural program to a full-fledged intercollegiate athletic program, from a few sports coached by volunteers from the Physical Education Department to nine varsity sports with paid head coaches and assistants and from running the "All-Campus Stunt Night" in order to raise funds to a program budgeted at $40,000.  She worked on the development of The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and served as President in 1978 of the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  She helped to make this conference one of the top NCAA Division III conferences in the nation by the mid-1980's.  Marty served as President of the Wisconsin Division for Girls and Women's Sports in 1967 in an attempt to improve the opportunities for high school girls in Wisconsin as well as the college women in the state.  She is currently active in club, district and state golf tournament activities and has for the past nine years sponsored a golf fundraiser which has enjoyed great popularity and much success in raising funds for the women's athletic program.  Marty currently resides at Whitewater Lake and continues to serve the University as a full-time faculty member of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.