Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Noted Houston philanthropist Philamena Baird will become the Chairwoman of the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas Board of Directors following this year’s game, bowl organizer have announced. ESPN college football analyst and 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware was also named to the Board of Directors.

Mrs. Baird is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and has been a board member since 2008. She will succeed John Huff, who has chaired the board since 2007. Mrs. Baird has been involved in countless charitable endeavors throughout the Houston area and has served on the host committees for Super Bowl XXXVIII, the 2011 NCAA Final Four and the 2011 Senior Games.

A tireless advocate for children’s causes, Mrs. Baird helped raise over $15 million for children’s charities through the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open and helped initiate the School-Based Clinics program through the Memorial Herrmann Hospital System, which provides health care to thousands of children throughout the Greater Houston area.

Mrs. Baird has served on numerous boards of directors and has received a number of honors for her philanthropic efforts, highlighted by her inclusion in the Greater Houston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Hall of Fame in 2010.  She has also received the Macy’s Savvy Award in 2008, the Women of Distinction award in 2006 and the Cancer League’s John P McGovern Life Time Achievement Award in 2005.  This year she received the Houston Mayor’s Gala Award for Contribution to Arts and Culture Of Houston.  In addition, Mayor Parker appointed Mrs. Baird to serve on the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Board, furthering her ties to sports in the community.

After his playing career, Ware transitioned into broadcasting and has become one of the leading analysts in college football. He has broadcast games in the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Ware also works as an analyst on the radio broadcast team for the Houston Texans, teaming with play-by-play voice Marc Vandermeer each Sunday.

Ware, a Dickinson native, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004. In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1989, he was also awarded the Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to college football’s best quarterback, after throwing for 4,699 yards and 44 touchdowns and setting 26 NCAA records.