Ronald McNair - Public Honors

Public Honors

A variety of public places and people have been renamed in honor of McNair.

• The crater McNair on the Moon is named in his honor.
• Watson Chapel Jr. High was renamed the R. McNair Jr. High School in his honor.
• Ronald McNair Boulevard in Lake City, South Carolina is named in his honor and lies near other streets named for astronauts who perished in the Challenger crash.
• The U.S. Department of Education offers the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program for students with low income, first generation students, and/or underrepresented students in graduate education for doctorate education.
• In Florence, South Carolina, there is a Ronald McNair Math and Science Center at the Francis Marion University.
• On January 29, 2011, the Lake City, South Carolina, library was dedicated as the Ronald McNair Life History Center. When Ronald McNair was nine, the police and his mother were called because he wished to check out books from this library, which served only white patrons before he arrived. He said, "I'll wait," to the lady and sat on the counter until the police and his mother arrived, and the policer said, "Why don't you just give him the books?" which the lady behind the counter reluctantly did. He said, "Thank you, M'am," as he got the books.
• Several K-12 schools have also been named after McNair.
  • Ronald E. McNair Middle School in Lake City, South Carolina, was renamed from Carver High School in his honor (he was a high school graduate of the facility).
  • Dr. Ronald Erwin McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey
  • Ronald McNair Elementary School currently under construction in Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Ronald McNair Elementary School in Germantown, Maryland
  • Ronald Erwin McNair High School in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Ronald E. McNair Middle School, San Antonio, Texas - Southwest ISD
  • Ronald McNair Middle School in Decatur, Georgia
  • Ronald McNair Middle School in College Park, Georgia
  • Ronald McNair Elementary School in University City, Missouri
  • Ronald Erwin McNair Elementary School in Denton, Texas (Denton ISD)
  • Ronald McNair Middle School in Rockledge, Florida
  • Ronald E. McNair Elementary School in Dallas, Texas (Dallas ISD)
  • Ronald E McNair Academic Center in Chicago, Illinois
  • Ronald McNair Middle School in East Palo Alto, California
  • Ronald Erwin McNair High School in Stockton, California
  • The Ronald McNair School in Cambria Heights Queens, New York
  • McNair Elementary School in Compton, California.
• A building on the Willowridge High School campus in Houston, Texas, is named in honor of Dr. McNair.
• There is a memorial in the Ronald McNair Park in Brooklyn, New York. in his honor.
• The Dr. Ronald E. McNair Playground in East Harlem, New York, New York, is named after him.
• The Ronald E. McNair Space Theater inside the Davis Planetarium in downtown Jackson, Mississippi is named in his honor.
• The Naval ROTC building on the campus of Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is named in his honor.
• The Engineering building at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC is named in his honor.
• The McNair Building at MIT houses the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
• The McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program, which operates at 179 campuses in the U.S. (April 7), awards research money and internships to first-generation and otherwise underrepresented students in preparation for graduate work.
• McNair was portrayed by Joe Morton in the 1990 TV movie Challenger.
• The song, "A Drop Of Water," recorded by Japanese jazz artist Keiko Matsui, with vocals by the late Carl Anderson, was written in tribute to Dr. McNair.
• The Jean Michel Jarre track Last Rendez-Vous was retitled Ron's Piece in his honor. McNair was originally due to record the track in space aboard Challenger, and then perform it via a live link up in Jarre's Rendez-vous Houston concert.