From the U.S. Department of Commerce:
Don Evans is the 34th Secretary to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, the voice of business in government. He oversees a diverse Cabinet agency of 40,000 workers and a $5 billion budget focused on promoting and advocating for American business, both at home and abroad. His Department also gathers vast quantities of economic and demographic data, issues patents and trademarks, helps set industrial standards, forecasts the weather, researches the oceans and oversees telecommunications policy. He is a key member of President Bush's economic team, advising the President on many issues, including trade, business concerns, energy policy and overall U.S. economic policy.

Secretary Evans is confident that U.S. businesses can compete with any in the world on a level playing field. To protect America's interests, he is making certain the Department has adequate resources to enforce trade laws and to ensure our trading partners play by the rules.

Maintaining U.S. leadership in cutting-edge technologies also is a focal point of Secretary Evans' agenda. He is helping redefine government's role in research to spur the development of more cutting-edge technologies; promoting the expansion of e-commerce and telecommunications with as little government intervention as possible; and improving the Department's economic data collection and distribution capabilities.

Secretary Evans was sworn into office on January 20, 2001. Born in Houston, Texas, in 1946, Secretary Evans attended the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1969 and an M.B.A. in 1973. While at UT, he was a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and worked during school breaks in a Texas steel mill. In December 2001, Secretary Evans was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of South Carolina. In September 2002, he was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Texas. In November 2002, he was inducted into the University of Texas Red McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame. In April 2003, he was presented with the Jesse H. And Mary Gibbs Jones International Citizen of the Year award by the Houston World Affairs Council.

In 1975, Secretary Evans moved to Midland, Texas, from Houston and was a "roughneck" on an oil rig for Tom Brown, Inc, a large independent energy company. Ten years later, he took the helm of the company as CEO and continued leading it until he was tapped by the President to lead the Commerce Department.

Secretary Evans has made significant contributions in local and national politics over the past 25 years, having worked on behalf of Governor Bush's successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998, and serving as Chairman of the Bush/Cheney 2000 campaign. Secretary Evans says his passions in life are family and his friends. He is married to Susan Marinis Evans. They have two daughters, a son and a granddaughter.