Baylor Founders Medal
Reserved for men and women whose service and contributions have been unusually significant to the life and future of Baylor.
Jane Meyer
Alumna Honoris Causa
More than 125 Baylor Bears—and counting—can thank Jane Meyer for the chance to attend Baylor on scholarships awarded by the Meyer family's foundations, including the Passport to Success Foundation founded by Jane and her husband Paul J. Meyer in 1988.
Jane is president of the Paul and Jane Meyer Family Foundation, which the couple created in 1984 to "provide resources to carry out the work of the Great Commission by investing in Christian mission ministries, charities, and needy individuals that they might, in turn, impact our world for Jesus Christ." Because their mission closely aligned with Baylor's purpose, the couple invested generously in the University.
Both Jane and Paul overcame hardships in their youth. The youngest of four children, Jane was born in Killeen, Texas, and moved at age two with her family to a farm, where her father soon died in a tractor accident. Her mother relocated the family to Temple, where Jane completed high school before attending business school in Waco.
Born in California to immigrants, Paul worked in orchards and vineyards alongside migrant workers beginning at age five, developing the discipline and work ethic that would fuel his success from a young age. In 1960, after two years in sales at Word Inc., Paul launched Success Motivation Institute (SMI), which revolutionized the personal development industry. It was the same year Paul met Jane. Eleven years later, the two married.
Sharing the success of SMI and subsequent ventures, the Meyer Family Foundation has given more than $75 million to assist the youth, elderly and needy in Central Texas. That support includes expanding access to a quality education at Baylor, most recently through a gift for the Paul and Jane Meyer Conference Center at the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, which features an interactive catalogue of materials from Paul Meyer's career. The Meyers also created The William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures at Truett Seminary and donated a building for use as a student-athlete residence hall.
Jane has received numerous honors, including the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award and Alumna Honoris Causa, the highest honor bestowed upon one who does not hold a Baylor degree. The Meyer family has celebrated more than a dozen Baylor graduations among their own children and grandchildren, who received their diplomas in the venue that bears their grandfather's name, the Paul J. Meyer Arena in the Ferrell Center.
