<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Staff photographer<\/p>\n
The\u00a0McNair family\u2019s impact on Houston will almost always start with bringing the NFL back to the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n But over decades in the city, matriarch Janice, who died Tuesday at the age of 89<\/a>, and her late husband Bob, who passed away in 2018<\/a>, have put their support behind many different initiatives.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s got a legacy of service,\u201d said Ryan Walsh, the CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. \u201cTheir names are all over town. As a native Houstonian, it\u2019s so enriching and heartwarming to see that legacy shape our city, our region, our community, and I think it\u2019s going to have an impact for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation began in 1988\u00a0\u2014 more than a decade before the McNairs founded the Texans and brought the NFL back to Houston \u2014 and invested millions of dollars into different programs across the city. When the NFL returned to the city in 2002, the family\u00a0started the Houston Texans Foundation, which has raised $50 million in two-plus decades.<\/p>\n Janice served as a director for both charitable organizations as well as the Robert and Janice\u00a0McNair Educational Foundation.<\/p>\n In total, Bob and Janice McNair donated more than a\u00a0half-billion dollars to charity, according to the Texans.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 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,\u201d read a message posted to the Houston Food Bank\u2019s social media pages<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Among their most notable contributions includes a $100 million gift to\u00a0Baylor College of Medicine<\/a> in 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n The money helped establish\u00a0McNair Scholars at the school, said Stephanie Young, Baylor College of Medicine\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019re starting to see some more big transformational gifts in our city, but at that time, this was unheard of,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n Their school named the McNair Campus after the family because of the gift.<\/p>\n It\u2019s far from the only college or program bearing the McNair name. Rice University, Houston Christian University and the University of St. Thomas all have\u00a0McNair Centers dedicated to entrepreneurship, innovation and free enterprise.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Rice University President Reginald DesRoches wrote on social media<\/a>. \u201cTheir support strengthened business education, entrepreneurship and opportunities for generations of students and scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n