Donald Louis Evans (born July 27, 1946) was the 34th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He was appointed by his longtime friend George W. Bush and sworn into office on January 20, 2001. On November 9, 2004, the White House announced that Evans intended to resign by the end of January 2005, surprising many who believed he would remain in the Bush cabinet under a different position.

Personal information

Born in Houston, Texas, Secretary Evans attended the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1969 and an MBA in 1973. While at UT, he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

In 1975, Secretary Evans moved to Midland, Texas from Houston and began roughnecking on an oil rig for Tom Brown Inc., a large independent energy company now based in Denver. Ten years later he took the company over as CEO and continued running it until becoming Commerce Secretary.

Political career

In 1995 Evans was appointed by then-Governor Bush to the Board of Regents of the University of Texas, serving as Chairman of the Board for the last four years. He was a board member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation for 8 years and a driving force behind Native Vision, a program that provides services to some 10,000 Native American children. He has been involved with the United Way for many years, serving as President in 1989 and Campaign Chair in 1981. He has been named Jaycees Man of the Year.

Secretary Evans has made significant contributions in local and national politics in the past 25 years having worked for Governor Bush's successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998, and serving as Chairman of the Bush/Cheney 2000 campaign. During President Bush's 2004 State of the Union he was the designated survivor and spent the night in a secure undisclosed location. In the event of an attack on the Capitol he would have become Acting President.

On November 9, 2004, Don Evans submitted his resignation from the post of Secretary of Commerce to President Bush, though he stayed until his successor was sworn in on February 7, 2005.

He is married to Susan Marinis Evans. They have two daughters, a son and a granddaughter.