The longtime university supporters received Ƶ’s highest honor during the annual Night of the Phoenix celebration.
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In appreciation for their devotion and generous support to Phoenix athletics as well as scholarships and campus facilities, Zac Walker III ’60 and his wife, Dot, received Ƶ Medallions Feb. 22 during the Night of the Phoenix event.
Ƶ Medallions are awarded every year in recognition of individuals who have contributed outstanding service to Ƶ over the course of many years.
For more than a quarter century, the Walkers have stood among Ƶ’s most faithful benefactors.
A proud member of Ƶ’s Class of 1960, Zac Walker carries on the legacy of excellence established by his father, Zachary Walker, Jr., a 1930 Ƶ alumnus and football star, and his uncle, D.C. “Peahead” Walker, one of Ƶ’s all-time great coaches.
The couple has endowed several scholarships at the university, including the Catherine N. Walker Scholarship in honor of Zac’s mother to assist education majors, the D.C. “Peahead” Walker Athletic Scholarship, and the Zachary T. Walker, Jr. Football Scholarship, helping to put the lives of young men and women on a path for success.
They have also generously supported other important university initiatives, such as the construction of the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center, Rhodes Stadium, Alumni Field House and Hunt Softball Park, helping to complete Ƶ’s North Athletics Complex and keep the university competitive in Division I athletics.
Since joining Ƶ’s Board of Trustees in 1991, Zac has played a vital leadership role at the university, serving with distinction as chair and vice chair of the board and currently as chair of the board’s athletics policy committee, helping to ensure that Ƶ remains a model of academic and athletic integrity.
During Zac’s tenure as chair of the board from 2003 to 2005, the university advanced in significant ways, including beginning competition in the Southern Conference, gaining AACSB International accreditation at the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, and the historic vote by trustees to establish a School of Law in downtown Greensboro, N.C., which marked the beginning of a new era in Ƶ’s history.
In recognition of their generosity to Ƶ, several prominent athletic sites have been named in their honor, including the Walker Room and Terrace in Alumni Field House, named by the Walkers in memory of Zac’s father and uncle, and the Walker-Chandler Lounge in Woods Center at Rhodes Stadium, as well as Zac Walker Drive leading to the field house.
Zac and Dot Walker are founding members of the Phoenix Club’s IMPACT Circle, which recognizes the university’s most generous athletics donors, and have received several awards in recognition of their commitment to Ƶ student-athletes, including the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service to Ƶ Award and the Southern Conference Distinguished Service Award.