OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh community gathered on Thursday (Oct. 30) to join Chancellor Manohar Singh and Assistant Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Darryl Sims in celebrating and dedicating the home of UW-Oshkosh softball as the Mary Beth Nienhaus Softball Complex.
 
The facility, formerly known as the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park, has been renamed in honor of Mary Beth Nienhaus, a well-known Fox Valley philanthropist, educator, and coach.
 
An Appleton native that started breaking barriers as the first female student-athlete at Marquette University in the 1960s, Nienhaus was one of the top amateur golfers in Wisconsin, winning a pair of amateur championships before joining the men's team.
 
While serving as a teacher for more than three decades and coaching numerous sports over 28 years, Nienhaus led the Appleton West High School girls golf team to four WIAA State Championships between 1981 and 1986 and was named the Ladies Professional Golf Association Coach of the Year in 1987.
 
During her remarks, Nienhaus noted that supporting women's athletics, in an effort to empower opportunity and excellence, has been a longtime passion of hers. She hopes the facility will inspire future student-athletes to chase their dreams on and off the field.
 
Nienhaus served as owner, manager, and golf pro at Winagamie Golf Course for more than 40 years. She became a partner in the course in 1972 and took sole ownership in 1993. When she retired in 2013, she donated the course to the Appleton Education Foundation.
 
Nienhaus has supported numerous causes over the years, including the Fox Valley Humane Association, the Appleton History Museum, the Appleton Public Library, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley, the Community First Champion Center, local sports complexes and pickleball courts, affordable housing for veterans, the Fox Cities YMCA, the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity, and has long supported the Marigold Mile in downtown Appleton.
 
A member of numerous halls of fame, Nienhaus was named the City of Appleton's 2025 Star Awards "Friend of the City" recipient on October 1.

Nienhaus has started a campaign to raise money for the baseball and softball parks under the name Fields for the Future. Projects at both facilities include lights and new scoreboards while Tiedemann Field at Alumni Stadium, the baseball program's home, looks to transition to a turf playing surface.