Marty van Steenderen
Marty van Steenderen receives the 2024 S.A. White Award for contributions to UW-Whitewater
Written by Kristine Zaballos | Photos by Craig Schreiner and submitted
When Marty van Steenderen joined UW-Whitewater as an assistant professor of physical education and director of the Women's Recreation Association in 1961, women educators taught a full schedule of classes and then volunteered their time on top of that to coach women’s sports.
In the face of that, van Steenderen used the opportunity to create and expand athletic opportunities for women on campus — growing the association into a full-fledged intercollegiate athletics program with nine varsity sports.
By 1971, the state recognized women’s intercollegiate athletics, forming the Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WWIAC). Ten years later, the NCAA sponsored its first women’s championship events.
The impact of her leadership locally reached the national level in a span of two decades.
"I wanted the very best for all athletes," said van Steenderen, "But especially women's athletics, because I fought so long and hard with the old guard.”
During her time as women's athletic director from 1971-86, van Steenderen helped develop the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and served as president of the WIAC in 1978.
Her contributions to UW-Whitewater and to the broader women’s athletic community have earned van Steenderen the 2024 S.A. White Award, which is presented to non-alumni for significant philanthropic contributions to the university.
“Marty van Steenderen's dedication to women's athletics at UW-Whitewater transcends the playing field,” said Katie Kuznacic, vice chancellor for university relations at UW-Whitewater. “As the university’s first athletic director for women, she wasn't just building a program — she was relentlessly shattering barriers and paving the way for generations of female athletes to thrive on the field and in their careers.”
Kuznacic added, “This award, named for UW-Whitewater’s visionary founder Samuel Austin White, couldn't be more fitting. Marty embodies the spirit of breaking new ground and leaving an enduring legacy.”
As a professor, van Steenderen taught physical education at UW-Whitewater and remained active in the sports community until her retirement in 1990, when she earned emeriti status from the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
After she retired, she kept coming back to campus, working diligently to see that progress was made on the new softball complex that she dreamed of seeing built. In 2015, a beaming van Steenderen toured the new two-story softball building behind home plate that was formally dedicated in her honor and included a press box, team locker room, coaches' offices, showers and storage space.
"I'm so proud to have my name on it," van Steenderen said, adding that, when she first served as athletic director, "We didn't have fences — we were lucky to have bases!
The UW-Whitewater softball team celebrates a win at van Steenderen Field. The softball complex was dedicated to women's athletics pioneer Marty van Steenderen in 2015. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)
In 1987 she was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2012 she was included in the first induction class of the WIAC Hall of Fame.
In 2021, she was honored by Warhawk Athletics in its Trailblazer Tuesday Series.
Trailblazer Tuesday image courtesy of Warhawk Athletics.
Van Steenderen praised UW-Whitewater for the "remarkable job it has done with athletics" and emphasized the importance of academics.
"Education was my dearest love," she said. "I was a teacher first."
