At the Heart of Giving

Janice and Bob McNair

Bob served on the Rice Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2002 and as honorary co-chair of the Rice: The Next Century Campaign. He is chairman and chief executive officer of The McNair Group and majority owner of the Houston Texans football team. Janice and Bob are Rice Associates and members of the William Marsh Rice Society.

Bob’s conviction and involvement help ensure that the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management becomes exactly that. Bob and Janice both believed that Houston needed a “truly outstanding business school,” so during the Rice: The Next Century Campaign, they made the largest gift to the campaign, in support of the Jones School. The majority of their gift helped fund construction of the Jones School building.

“I think the Jones School is a great addition, not only to Rice but also to Houston,” says Bob. “Houston has the third largest number of corporate headquarters in the country with many outstanding business leaders. The school helps foster better interaction between those leaders and the faculty and students at Rice.”

Through the Houston Texans, the McNairs also helped to underwrite a sports management program in the Jones School, noting that there are few academic programs for people who want to pursue a career in sports management. “Sports has become a big entertainment business, and we need highly trained people in the profession,” Bob stresses.

The generosity of the McNairs has extended to other parts of the Rice campus over many years. In 1995, they endowed the Janice and Robert McNair Professor of Public Policy in the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. The chair is currently held by institute founding director Edward Djerejian, who, Bob says, “has done a wonderful job.”