Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov named Natalie Winkelfoos Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education on December 7, 2012. Winkelfoos, who is a member of the President's Senior Staff, was promoted to Associate Vice President for Athletics Advancement and Delta Lodge Director of Athletics & Physical Education in February of 2017.
“The Oberlin community is full of incredibly talented students, faculty, staff, and alumni that I am fortunate to work alongside. I welcome the challenge of increasing our athletics prominence, and trust all members of the Oberlin family will join me in advancing our competitive goals on the playing fields and off,” Winkelfoos said.
Named the Division III Administrator of the Year by Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) in 2015, Winkelfoos inherited a department that was in the early stages of a capital campaign during which she has collaborated with the office of development to raise approximately $30 million dollars to date that has built the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex and a soon-to-be health and wellness center. She has a proven track record of generating support for the department through her work with the John W. Heisman Club. Since she began managing the organization, each year both the total number of donors and money raised has increased.
“I am delighted that Natalie serves as Oberlin’s Delta Lodge Director of Athletics,” President Krislov said. “She impresses us all with her leadership, knowledge, and commitment to providing the best experience for our student-athletes and all the members of our community."
Winkelfoos served on the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Diversity Committee
with conference presidents and Executive Director Keri Alexander Luchowski to create a conference-wide program to mentor females and minorities. Additionally, she was part of a working group that produced Oberlin’s first-ever varsity student-athlete transgender inclusion policy. Notably, she has served as an instructor at the 2014 Emerging Administrators Academy, presented at the 2015 NCAA Convention (
Embedding Inclusion into the Athletics Department), and has been recognized as an industry influencer by the Women in Sports and Events organization.
Having been on staff in various roles since 2005, Winkelfoos held the position of associate director of athletics for development and alumni relations and works as the department’s senior woman administrator.
“Natalie has great passion and high energy for Oberlin athletics, which I feel makes her a perfect fit to lead the department into the future,” Heisman Club member Andrew Fox '13 said. “Her familiarity with the institution, her experiences having played Division III sports, and her willingness for us as student-athletes to succeed in all aspects of life makes her a great a choice to spearhead the department.”
She holds memberships in National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Athletic Development Directors, the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators, and Women Leaders in College Sports.
A former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III athlete, Winkelfoos was a four-year letter winner on the Baldwin-Wallace College basketball team. A two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) selection, she is the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage. During her career, she helped the Yellow Jackets accumulate over 100 wins and led them to two conference titles and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
A native of Bucyrus, Ohio, she graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College and earned a master’s degree in higher education administration and student personnel at Kent State University. She was inducted into the Bucyrus High School Hall of Fame along with the Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
