Don Flow
By Susan R. Wente
Feb. 20, 2025
It is now my great pleasure to introduce the recipient of the 2025 Wake Forest University Medallion of Merit.
Given annually since 1968, the Medallion of Merit is the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by the Wake Forest, given for outstanding achievement and distinguished contribution to the University.
This year’s recipient is an incredibly inspiring and accomplished leader – in both his direct contributions to the flourishing of Wake Forest University, as well as the many ways he has enabled the business, entrepreneurship and philanthropic communities of Winston Salem, the Triad and North Carolina to grow and thrive.
I am pleased to recognize Donald Eric Flow as the 2025 recipient of the Medallion of Merit.
Don Flow, Chairman and CEO of Flow Companies, is an alumnus of the Wake Forest University School of Business, earning his MBA in 1983. His decades of service to Wake Forest University are truly prolific and broad-based. He was a dedicated member, and chair of the business school’s board of visitors. He was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2005. And, he has continued to serve as University Trustee for five terms, including a term as chair of the Board for three years from 2012-2015.
As a Trustee, Don has been an extraordinary partner to the University and to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, serving in multiple roles, including chair and vice chair of the medical center board, and chair of the university Health Sciences board. Don has been integral to the Medical Center and Wake Forest School of Medicine becoming the academic core of Atrium Health and now Advocate Health, including plans for the new School of Medicine campus in Charlotte.
In 2011, Don led the charge in establishing the Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest University, which is not only the last stop on the tour before the US Open, but is a significant fundraiser for community sports. Last year’s tournament raised $25,000 for local middle school athletics and community tennis programs.
From 2012 to 2020, Don chaired the University’s Wake Will capital campaign – our largest philanthropic campaign to date which raised more than $1 billion. Don’s leadership on this campaign made possible many of the key Reynolda campus facilities projects supported by Wake Will – including the construction of Farrell Hall and the renovation of our residence halls.
In 2017, Don was awarded the Wake Forest Distinguished Alumni Award.
And while these accolades and service alone would make him a worthy recipient of this honor; it is his heart, and his humanitarianism – the way he embodies our motto with the very fiber of his being – that truly distinguish Don among the many extraordinary leaders who precede him as Medallion recipients.
So many of you in this room, myself included, have been deeply affected by Don’s generosity of spirit, his intellect, and his abiding kindness.
And finally, I want to take a moment for a special acknowledgement – Don Flow’s receipt of this honor results in the only time two members of the same family have independently have been Medallion recipients!
Don’s father, Vic Flow, who is here with us today, also received the honor in 2001. This is a testament to the Flow family’s enduring love for Wake Forest, and their continued dedication to service and a vision for the good in our community.
On this twentieth day of February, two thousand twenty-five, Wake Forest University confers its highest honor, the Medallion of Merit, upon Donald Eric Flow.