Great Living Cincinnatians
Paul M. Flory
Visionary Tennis Philanthropist
Awarded 2009
While still an executive at Procter & Gamble, Flory volunteered part time for a tennis tournament called the ATP. By 1975, he became the director of the men's tournament, at a time when the event's survival was in question.
Under his leadership, the tournament not only survived, but has become one of only 13 events in men's tennis that are mandatory for players. Also under his direction, Cincinnati was selected to host a Women's Tennis Association Tour event, something it last did in 1988.
The men's tournament, now called the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, and the women's event, the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, are both top-tier annual international sporting events, seen on television by millions in the U.S. and around the world. Since Flory's involvement, the tournament has contributed more than $7 million to Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center to fund its Long-Term Survivor Clinic, a program for survivors of childhood cancer.
In 1991, the tournament established a second charity, Tennis for City Youth, which funds lessons, clinics, and leagues and provides equipment for 600 area children who normally could not afford to learn to play tennis. The Women's Open is played for the benefit of the Barrett Cancer Center at Cincinnati's University Hospital.