Marguerite Chesney

A self-taught tennis player who became a champion, Marguerite Chesney (1893 - 1971) pioneered women’s intercollegiate competition during her 36-year career at the University of Arizona. In the 1930’s, Chesney began to organize regional Play Days for college women; and in 1947 she initiated the co-educational Arizona Intercollegiate Invitational Tournament, which she directed for the next decade.

Chesney’s career includes many milestones such as the most singles titles in the Southwestern and Arizona Opens, the first woman sectional delegate to the USTA, and the first woman to be inducted into her university’s Sports Hall of Fame. Beloved by her students, she coached many champions including the 1946 national winner in junior doubles, Mary Cunningham. Another student, Laura Morgan Stubbs, wrote in tribute, “Any memory of Miss Chesney is a happy one.”