Janice Suber McNair is co-founder and senior chair of the Houston Texans. Since moving to Houston in 1960, Bob and Janice raised four children and embarked on a lifelong career of giving back to the community. The McNairs have been champions of philanthropy, making education and medical research the cornerstones of their charitable giving. Contributions are made through The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and the Houston Texans Foundation, and The Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation in Forest City, N.C. McNair serves as a director of each foundation. To date, they have contributed more than a half billion dollars to charity.
The McNairs started the Houston Texans Foundation with the inception of the Houston Texans in 2002 and a strong desire to do great things for Houston. The mission of the foundation is to be Champions for Youth. Since 2002, more than $41.7 million has been raised through annual fundraising events, disaster response programs, United Way campaigns and partnerships with nonprofit organizations. The Texans Foundation is aligned with three strategic community partners: the Houston Texans YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and the Houston Food Bank.
The McNairs established McNair Scholars programs which recruit the best and brightest students and faculty to the University of South Carolina, Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children's Hospital. Their contributions to academic medical research are leading to discoveries and seeking cures for disease. Baylor College of Medicine named the McNair Campus in recognition of their transformational gift in 2007 to the McNair Medical Institute and the McNair Scholars Program. In 2015, the McNairs established McNair Centers for Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise. Today, these Centers at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, the University of St. Thomas Houston, Houston Baptist University, the University of South Carolina and Northwood University in Midland, Michigan promote an understanding and appreciation of the role innovation, entrepreneurism and free enterprise play in society.
The McNairs have four children, sixteen grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. Janice grew up in Orangeburg, S.C., was active in sports, choir and student government, president of the South Carolina Association of Student Councils and governor of the South Carolina Girls' State. She graduated from Columbia College in Columbia, S.C. with a degree in education and later received an honorary doctorate from Columbia College. Janice is a breast cancer survivor.
