A Salute to a Pi Kappa Phi Legend

May 31, 2025

When he began his career in 1959, Durward W. Owen, Xi (Roanoke), inherited a Fraternity that was small compared to other national organizations, but large in ambition and grit. 

By the time he announced his retirement, Pi Kappa Phi had grown by 208 percent, with 46 chapters in 1959 growing to 136 chapters and six associate chapters by 1994 and strengthened alumni engagement nationwide. 

The Fraternity had grown in far more ways than just number, though. In what Durward considers his greatest contribution to Pi Kappa Phi, he worked to create a national service project for the Fraternity, which is known today as The Ability Experience. This project set Pi Kappa Phi apart in the Greek world, and has led to generations of Pi Kappa Phi brothers being shaped into servant leaders. 

Durward believed leadership was about people; empowering them, challenging them and believing in them before they believed in themselves. He inspired a generation of brothers to think bigger, serve boldly and lead with heart. 

At the center of many of Durward’s efforts was the belief that Pi Kappa Phi’s alumni were the Fraternity’s most valuable asset. Throughout his career, he employed 110 alumni, many of whom went on to serve the Fraternity through roles on the National Council or in other capacities, such as The Ability Experience Board of Directors, the Pi Kappa Phi Properties Board or the Pi Kappa Phi Foundation Board of Trustees. 

Through his commitment to Pi Kappa Phi and each of his brothers, Durward did much more than advance the Fraternity; he helped men discover their purpose. He is viewed by those he is closest to as a mentor, a leader, a visionary, the best boss they ever had and, of course, a brother and friend. This video is a tribute to his enduring legacy and a reminder for future generations of a man whose impact on Pi Kappa Phi knows no bounds.  

Career Highlights  

  • Grew Pi Kappa Phi’s membership by 208% 
  • Established The Ability Experience, the first national service project created by an interfraternal organization 
  • Established the Pi Kappa Phi Internship Program 
  • Established the Nu Phi Society 
  • Fraternity Communications Association President  
  • Fraternity Executives Association Vice President and President 
  • Helped establish the Association of Fraternity Advisors  
  • Helped establish the Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group (FIPG) 

Awards and Accolades 

  • Kappa Alpha Order’s Accolade for Interfraternal Service (2004) 
  • Tau Kappa Epsilon’s Salsbury-Scott Award (1991) 
  • FarmHouse Fraternity’s Barnes Award for Outstanding Fraternalism (2014) 
  • Eric C. Varner, Jr. Fraternal Communications Award (1994) 
  • NIC Gold Medal Recipient (1993) 
  • NIC Interfraternal Award 
  • Zeta Beta Tau’s Riegelman-Jacobs Award for Outstanding Fraternal Service (1998) 
  • Roanoke College Medal (2020) 
  • Roanoke College Sesquicentennial 150 (150 Outstanding Graduates) 
  • Kappa Delta Rho – Merit Award 
  • SEIFC – Kaplam Riess Distinguished Service Award 
  • Zeta Psi Interfraternity Service Award 
  • Triangle Certificate of Appreciation  
  • Phi Kappa Tau Interfraternity Service Award 
  • Delta Chi Interfraternity Service Award  
  • FEA Distinguished Service Award 

Awards Named in Durward Owen’s Honor 

  • Pi Kappa Phi’s Durward W. Owen Interfraternity Award for Greek Service 
  • SGLA Durward W. Owen Interfraternal Service Award 

 

This special tribute to Durward W. Owen was made possible by the generous support of members and friends whose admiration for Durward knows no bounds. We thank them for their generosity, which allows Pi Kappa Phi brothers everywhere insight into a man who shaped Pi Kappa Phi — and thousands of members — into a brotherhood of exceptional men. On behalf of Pi Kappa Phi and Executive Producer Joseph A. Brady, Epsilon Omicron (Villanova), we express our deepest gratitude to the following donors for this gift.  

Thomas E. Berk, Alpha Upsilon (Drexel); The Pi Alpha Society; Steve and Penny DePalma, Beta Alpha (NJIT); Ernest and Joni Johnson, Alpha Iota (Auburn); Tracy D. Maddux, Zeta Theta (Texas-Austin); Parker H. “Pete” Petit, Iota (Georgia Tech); Charles J. “Chuck” Barnard, Delta Delta (Truman State); Hon. Thomas L. Carter, Gamma Delta (Memphis); Stephen A. Esworthy, Xi (Roanoke); Anders and Joanna Hall, Mu (Durham); R. Nathan Hightower, Omicron (Alabama);
J. Gunnar Schalin, Upsilon (Illinois-Urbana-Champaign); David S. Shook, Alpha Psi (Indiana); Dudley and Natalie Woody, Xi (Roanoke); W. Stuart Hicks, Kappa (UNC-Chapel Hill); James F. House, Alpha Eta (Samford); Jack R. McDonald, Alpha Eta (Samford); Walter H. Pickens, Jr., Sigma (South Carolina); James M. Smith, Alpha Eta (Samford); James L. Daley, Alpha Eta (Samford) Joseph A Brady, III, Epsilon Omicron (Villanova); Jake C. Henderson, Beta Theta (Arizona); Mark Jacobs, Delta Psi, (Texas-Arlington); William T. Sigmon, Alpha Sigma (Tennessee); Jay and Christine Stuckel, Beta Epsilon (Missouri-Columbia); Andrae L. Turner, Eta Rho (Texas State); Walter T. Wahlfeldt, (Illinois-Urbana-Champaign); Phil Tappy, Lambda (Georgia); Dwayne K. Todd, Alpha Eta (Samford); James S. Stump, Xi (Roanoke); Mark E. Timmes, Alpha Epsilon (Florida) 

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