University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 1, 2003

By HEIDI ROTH
Reporter Contributor

The university's softball field, currently called the UB Softball Stadium, will be renamed Nan Harvey Field on Saturday during a special ceremony being held in recognition of a monetary gift from Harvey, associate athletic director and senior women's administrator.

UB Softball Stadium will be renamed Nan Harvey Field during a ceremony to be held on Saturday.

The field will be renamed in recognition of a bequest Harvey has made to the Division of Athletics for a minimum of $200,000. The renaming will take place during a ceremony to be held after the first game of a doubleheader between the Bulls and Akron that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

"Personally, I've never been more touched by a gesture in my life," said Bob Arkeilpane, director of athletics. "For someone who has already given so much of her time, energy and enthusiasm to the University at Buffalo, this is the ultimate gift commitment. I don't know of anyone who is more committed to the success of UB athletics than Nan Harvey."

Harvey has been serving the Bulls for almost 30 years—first as a student, then as a coach and now as an administrator. Appointed to her current position of senior women's administrator in August 1996, she is responsible for the day-to-day management of UB's intercollegiate athletic program and represents the university on all issues regarding women's athletics.

"The University at Buffalo has enriched my life on a daily basis and has given me opportunities to grow as a person and a professional," said Harvey. "I am forever indebted to the coaches and professors who taught me, the administrators who guided me and the peers and the students who supported me.

These people are the University at Buffalo, and my gift represents my eternal gratitude to them and my contribution to ensuring that others who come after me may have the same wonderful experience that I have enjoyed at this outstanding institution," she said.

"Having the softball field at the University at Buffalo bear my name uniquely combines two very special passions in my life."

Harvey's affiliation with UB dates back to 1974, when she first put on a blue-and-white uniform as a member of the volleyball team. Harvey played volleyball as a freshman and a sophomore, and also was a member of the basketball team for three seasons, captaining the 1976-77 squad to a 7-9 record.

After graduating cum laude from UB in 1978 with a degree in physical education, Harvey returned to her alma mater in 1983 to head its softball program. She recorded 38 wins over the next three years as head coach, and earned 1985 SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors after guiding UB to its best record ever (19-9), a national ranking of 12th in the country and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament.

Harvey also coached the women's basketball team from 1985-90, including its first two seasons competing at the Division II level. She guided UB to winning records and postseason berths in each of those two seasons, and she led her team to a first-place finish in the SUNYAC West Division in 1986-87. Harvey had served as an assistant coach for two years before taking over the head coaching reins.

In addition to her duties at UB, Harvey has been active in the Western New York softball scene, both as a player and as an umpire. In 1991, she was inducted into the WNY Softball Hall of Fame as a player and in 1996 was named the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Metro Buffalo Umpire of the Year. Harvey received one of the most prestigious honors that can be bestowed upon an ASA umpire when she was inducted into the National Indicator Fraternity of the Amateur Softball Hall of Fame in 1996.

Her name appears on a plaque in the National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

She has umpired in various national tournaments, including the 1992 Men's Major Industrial Slow Pitch, the 1995 and 1996 Women's Major Slow Pitch and the 1995, 1996 and 1997 NCAA Division III National Championships.

She received her International Softball Federation Umpire Certification for slow-pitch competition in 1996, making her eligible to officiate international slow-pitch contests as a representative of the United States.

Most recently, Harvey was inducted into the Metro Buffalo ASA Hall of Fame in March. She also will begin serving a four-year term on the NCAA Division I softball committee this September.

During her career at UB, Harvey also has served as strength and conditioning coach, as aquatics coordinator for the Department of Recreation and Intramurals, as race director for the Linda Yalem Memorial 5K Run and as an assistant professor in the Division of Athletics.

She earned a master's degree in exercise science from UB in 1987 and has been a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Amateur Softball Association.