Houston Texans co-founder and chair Janice McNair laughs on the sidelines before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, in Nashville.
Brett Coomer/Staff photographer
The McNair family’s impact on Houston will almost always start with bringing the NFL back to the city.
But over decades in the city, matriarch Janice, who died Tuesday at the age of 89, and her late husband Bob, who passed away in 2018, have put their support behind many different initiatives.
“She’s got a legacy of service,” said Ryan Walsh, the CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. “Their names are all over town. As a native Houstonian, it’s so enriching and heartwarming to see that legacy shape our city, our region, our community, and I think it’s going to have an impact for generations.”
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The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation began in 1988 — more than a decade before the McNairs founded the Texans and brought the NFL back to Houston — and invested millions of dollars into different programs across the city. When the NFL returned to the city in 2002, the family started the Houston Texans Foundation, which has raised $50 million in two-plus decades.
Janice served as a director for both charitable organizations as well as the Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation.
In total, Bob and Janice McNair donated more than a half-billion dollars to charity, according to the Texans.
“Since co-founding the franchise with her late husband Bob McNair in 1999, Mrs. McNair and her family have dedicated themselves to giving back to the community, including ongoing support of Houston Food Bank,” read a message posted to the Houston Food Bank’s social media pages Tuesday.
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Among their most notable contributions includes a $100 million gift to Baylor College of Medicine in 2007.
The money helped establish McNair Scholars at the school, said Stephanie Young, Baylor College of Medicine’s senior vice president of advancement and alumni affairs, a program that recruits top scientists to come to Houston and do research into breast and pancreatic cancer, juvenile diabetes and the neurosciences.
“I think you’re starting to see some more big transformational gifts in our city, but at that time, this was unheard of,” Young said.
Their school named the McNair Campus after the family because of the gift.
It’s far from the only college or program bearing the McNair name. Rice University, Houston Christian University and the University of St. Thomas all have McNair Centers dedicated to entrepreneurship, innovation and free enterprise.
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“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Janice McNair, whose kindness, generosity and devotion to Houston touched countless lives. Janice and her beloved husband, Bob, were extraordinary friends of Rice,” Rice University President Reginald DesRoches wrote on social media. “Their support strengthened business education, entrepreneurship and opportunities for generations of students and scholars.”
It’s not just in education and medicine where the family has put their money. There is the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat at the Houston Zoo and the McNair Equestrian Center at Misty Meadows Ranch, among other places across the city. Following Hurricane Harvey, the family donated $3 million to United Way of Greater Houston.
Over the years, Janice McNair earned numerous honors for her philanthropy and community engagement, including the Houston Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and the Maurice Hirsch Award for Philanthropy from the Greater Houston Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Young said that the McNairs weren’t just selfless with their giving but also innovative in how they approached making Houston a better place.
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“It’s a special gift to recognize that you don’t need the attention as the philanthropist, but it’s the work that happens because of your philanthropy that really makes a lasting impact,” Young said. “I hope that people know that Janice and Bob and their entire family embody those qualities that are rare to find in a family.”