Daniel Jackson Evans

Civil engineer, governor, U.S. senator, university president and more, Daniel “Dan” J. Evans ranks as one of the most distinguished leaders in the history of Washington state. Perhaps best known as governor, serving an unprecedented three terms from 1965 to 1977, he was recognized as “One of the Ten Outstanding Governors in the Twentieth Century” (according to a 1981 University of Michigan study). His lifetime commitment to public service in his state and long-standing ties to local institutions like the University of Washington (UW) have earned him the title “Mr. Washington.”

His exemplary proficiency in the fields of governance, education, engineering, and the environment, however, reach far beyond the boundaries of his state. As governor, he was elected chair of both the Western Governors Association and the National Governors Association. He was so widely admired, respected, and untouched by scandal throughout his public life he was often referred to as “Straight Arrow” by the media, nationally as well as locally.

Only thirty-nine when first elected governor in 1964, Evans was the youngest person ever to hold the office. He later served as president of Evergreen State College (ESC) in Olympia, Washington, from 1977 to 1983, and as chairman of the Pacific Northwest Electric and Power and Conservation Planning Council from 1981 to 1983 before moving on to the U.S. Senate. After his stint in Washington, D.C., he spent twelve years on the UW Board of Regents, serving as its president from 1996 to 1997.

Before becoming governor, Evans was a practicing civil engineer, licensed both as a professional engineer (PE) in 1955, and a structural engineer (SE) in 1962. The consulting engineering firm he and Victor Gray founded in 1960—Gray and Evans—specialized in structural design, mostly for architects involved with high-rise apartments such as the Lamplighter, the Highlander, and the Shannon, and buildings like the Seattle Elks Club.

At SeaTac International Airport, they provided structural engineering services for the early stages of the main terminal building expansion and Concourse C. Among their projects for the UW—the alma mater of both—was the south campus parking garage. They also engineered a number of high-tech communications structures including the KCTS television tower in Seattle, the radio tower on Orcas Island, and lookout-tower prototypes for the U.S. Forest Service.

In 1969, Evans was the first recipient of the Puget Sound Engineering Council’s Professional Engineer of the Year Award. His citation read, “[F]or significant contributions in the application of engineering to meet community needs, advancement of the art of engineering, and active participation in community affairs and technical societies.”

Born in Seattle, Washington, on October 16, 1925, Dan was predestined to both engineering and public leadership and service. His parents—Daniel Lester “Les” and Irma Evans—were politically aware and civic minded, and the Evans family itself was deeply rooted in the Northwest. Dan’s great-grandfather Daniel Jackson, after whom he was named, came to Puget Sound in 1859 and went to work in the sawmills at Port Ludlow and Port Gamble. He later became a very successful steamship operator, founding the Puget Sound and Alaska Steamship Company, and operating the finest passenger vessels in the Northwest. (Jackson’s daughter May married Dan’s paternal grandfather George Evans.)

Dan’s maternal grandfather represented Spokane in the Washington State Senate in 1893, and his father, a 1917 civil engineering graduate of the UW, served as King County Engineer for years. Says Evans, “I chose engineering both because I was good at math, science, and physics, and because of my father, who I admired very much.”

Growing up during the days of the Great Depression when nearly everyone was strapped for money instilled in Dan and other young Americans of the era a deep sense of the value of money and a need for sound fiscal practice. As a youngster he was active as a Boy Scout, reaching the rank of Eagle Scout and receiving the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He served as a staff member at Camp Parsons and spent much time hiking in the Olympic Mountains, which nurtured in him a lifelong love of wilderness and the environment.

The Evanses lived near the UW and on Fall Saturdays, young Dan and his buddies would go over and watch football games from the open end of the school’s stadium, looking through the fence or sitting on trees for better views. One of the pluses of being a Boy Scout in those days was the option to serve (in Scout uniform) as ushers at UW games. Evans recalls: “I remember very well how we all were transfixed by the 1936 Huskies who went to the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Pittsburgh. Still, when we were playing touch football games in the playfield, we’d always adopt names of the star UW players from that era. Later, one of our pals Gordon Berlin actually went on to became an all Pac-10 center for the UW.”

After graduating from Seattle’s Roosevelt High School in 1943, in the midst of World War II, Dan and “another fellow who lived on the same street” signed up for the U.S. Navy’s V-12 naval officer training program. They graduated from high school on Friday and were on the UW campus in the program on Monday. Evans only stayed at the UW for eight months then transferred to the Naval ROTC program at Berkeley, California. Half of his classes were naval courses and the other half were engineering. In June of 1945, he received his commission as an ensign and spent the next year on aircraft carriers in the Pacific Theater.

Once the war was over, Evans and the Navy parted ways in July of 1946, and he entered the UW to finish up work for his civil engineering degree, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1948, followed by a master’s degree a year later. Many long-term professors were at the university at the time. Evans notes, “Interestingly enough, I met and had classes from several professors that my father had had many years before when he took engineering at the UW.”

Evans immediately went to work for the City of Seattle in its structural engineering department. One of his first major project assignments was working on a special civil engineering design team designing the state-of-the art Alaskan Way Viaduct along Seattle’s waterfront. It was while at the city that Evans first met his future partner Vic Gray, a civil engineering graduate of Gonzaga University who, like Evans, also held a master’s degree in civil/structural engineering from the UW. Evans, six months the elder of the two, earned his master’s in 1949 while Gray received his in 1951.

When the Korean War began in 1951, Evans was called back into service, reentering the Navy as a lieutenant. After the end of that war in 1953, he returned to the city of Seattle, with the same special engineering design team that produced the Alaskan Way Viaduct. At the time, it was working on the specialized design for the First Avenue South Bridge.

In the summer of 1954, Evans was recruited as assistant manager for the Mountain Pacific Chapter of the Association of General Contractors (AGC). The group needed someone with a strong engineering background who could work well with the city, county, and state engineering departments to help simplify and streamline construction regulations. Evans fit the bill perfectly. He remained with AGC for five years, until shortly after his marriage.

In 1956, one year after he became registered as a PE, Evans began his active career in politics. On his first try, he won election to the Washington State House of Representatives, an outspoken Republican among mostly Democrats. It would be the start of his record of never losing an election for high political office.

Ever the engineer, Evans had campaigned on a platform calling for better roads, bridges, and metropolitan planning. Calm and unassuming, he showed an early knack for forming bipartisan coalitions, a characteristic that would mark his entire tenure in politics. His fellow legislators voted him outstanding freshman and he was later elected GOP minority floor leader. It was during this time that he and Gray, by chance, were reacquainted, when the latter was lobbing the legislature for an improved state engineering licensing bill.

While on a skiing trip with mutual friends, the thirty-four-year-old Evans met Nancy Bell, a vivacious and outgoing music teacher and librarian in the Shoreline School District near Seattle. A Washington native like Evans, she was a 1954 graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla. Her father, like his, was an engineer—a mining engineer originally from New York who settled in Spokane after a stopover in Vancouver, British Columbia. The pair married in June 1959. He was eight years her senior. They would have three sons—Daniel Jr., Mark, and Bruce.

The newlyweds delayed their honeymoon until January 1960 so he could wrap up things at AGC. They then took an extended trip—a six-month tour of Europe. Upon their return, Evans changed the direction of his career. He initiated discussions with other engineers and, in the process, again encountered Gray, who was also looking to establish his own consulting engineering company. The pair came to terms and created a business partnership. Although only lasting until Evans was elected governor in 1964, the arrangement proved to be a successful venture for both. Plus, both were avid skiers and owned a condo together at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort for many years, where they and their wives often socialized together.

When questioned why their company was named Gray and Evans, and not the other way around, Gray says: “No real reason, but it was no big deal with Dan. He was so sure of himself. Plus, maybe he knew at the time that he would leave sometime in the future to go into politics fulltime and did not want to complicated things. Anyway, it was never an issue.” Getting started in the structural field in those days was not easy and, according to Gray, “Dan’s work at the time opened many doors for future work and provided a major push, bringing in many new clients.”

When Evans was elected governor in 1964, he left the firm and the Gray and Evans partnership was terminated. Gray continued the practice along the same track it was going. Then in 1987, he sold the firm to Entranco Engineers, working with them until 1992 when he retired. (Entranco was eventually merged into DMJM.)

Regarding conflict of interest, Gray notes: “I could not even talk to the DOT—a major source of engineering work for consultants, then and now. In fact, I made every effort not to have any dealings with Dan so as to have him accused of showing me any special consideration.” According to Gray, his firm did occasionally do work as a subconsultant for certain architects who had contracts with the State Department of Architecture on various building projects. And on one seismic rehab project, Gray recalls: “Dan did recommend that my firm be retained along with two other Seattle firms. But overall, I did not actively pursue state work because I did not want to be seen as someone pushing the governor for work.”

Evans began his three-term governorship in November 1964 by defeating the incumbent governor, Albert Rosellini. Evans was one of the few Republicans to survive a nationwide Democratic landslide led by President Lyndon Johnson’s massive plurality.

The engineer-governor offered voters a pragmatic and clear “Blueprint for Progress.” The tone for his administration was defined in his first inaugural address, when he announced in his powerful voice, “This administration is not ashamed of the word ‘conservative’ and it is not afraid of the word ‘liberal.’ ”

Like Teddy Roosevelt, one of his political heroes, Evans frequently crossed party lines, saying that he would “rather cross the aisle than cross the people,” adding that there are “no Republican schools or Democrat highways, no liberal salmon or conservative parks.” Many described his agenda as being “passionately moderate.” Evans states: “Roosevelt said, ‘The presidency is a bully pulpit.’ I thought the same about being governor. You could set an agenda, urge legislative action, and seek public support for new ideas and programs.”

The 1960s were chaotic years, challenging leaders—especially governors—nationwide. Civil rights and environmental activism shared center stage with anti-Vietnam War protests. Frustrations boiled over into urban riots. Protest became almost a way of life on college campuses. And the new Washington governor’s enthusiastic support of nuclear power, not universally embraced back then, did not make his job any easier.

In addition, for Evans, was the downfall of the Boeing Company, then the largest employer in the Puget Sound region. When it lost several important defense contracts in the late 1960s, it triggered what became known as the “Boeing Bust.” The company laid off more than 60,000 employees, cutting its workforce from 100,800 in 1967 to fewer than 40,000 in 1971. Recalls Evans: “The Boeing boom of the late 1960s was followed immediately by a dramatic aerospace recession, and the state unemployment surged from 3.5 percent to 13 percent. It was a heady time to be governor.”

While dealing with these complex issues, Evans found time to champion the cause of education, creating a state community college system, launching ESC, and establishing higher levels of support for existing four-year colleges and universities. He also established the Washington State Indian Affairs Commission and the Washington State Women’s Council.

In reflection, Evans adds: “I believe, however, that the longest lasting and probably our most important accomplishment was in the recognition and protection of our environment. A special legislative session in 1970 produced a remarkable set of bills to produce cleaner air and water, restore the landscape following strip mining, protect endangered lands, and create the nations’ first Department of Ecology.”

By the late 1960s, Evans was attracting national attention. He was the keynote speaker at the 1968 Republican National convention and was on the cover of Time magazine (on August 9, 1968). He held the heady position of chair of the National Governors Conference in 1974. And both Richard Nixon in 1968 and Gerald Ford in 1976 considered him as a vice presidential running mate.

Despite all that and his highly successful period as governor, Evans declined running for a fourth term. In 1977, he left politics to take on what many thought was a doubtful assignment—the presidency of the fledgling ESC. He had long had a soft spot in his heart for the place, championing the legislation that created the institution and being on hand when its doors were opened in 1971. An innovative four-year college that emphasized collaborative learning and interdisciplinary studies, ESC, in the late 1970s, was struggling to stay alive.

When the legislature tried to close ESC in 1981 and again in 1983, Evans was vital in fending off its efforts. His role in stabilizing and improving the institution’s reputation, both within and outside the state, proved to be key to its future. By the time he left its helm, ESC was at the top of many lists for the best liberal arts colleges nationally.

In September 1983, Evans was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Henry “Scoop” Jackson. Two months later, Evans won a special election to complete the remaining five years of Jackson’s term. According to the local media, “His opponent’s arm-waving, emotional, stump-preacher brand of rhetoric stood in stark contrast to Evans’s cool, voice-of-reason speaking style and distinguished senatorial appearance.”

As a U.S. senator, Evans actively participated on three meaningful committees—Energy and Natural Resources, Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, on which he was vice-chair. But it wasn’t enough.

As a former governor and university president who was used to decisive action, he found the Senate more frustrating than rewarding. He was disappointed about “the lack of real debate, the influence of special interest groups, the venomous infighting, and the need for incessant campaigning.” He also allowed that senators no longer engaged in meaningful debate, often delivering set speeches to a largely empty chamber- and that committee meetings were often stalled by lack of a quorum.

In October 1987, after some soul searching, Evans announced that he would not be a candidate for reelection. He told one interviewer that he had come to the Senate too late (at age sixty-three) to build up enough seniority to have major influence—and that he was somewhat disappointed with the institution itself.

In a lengthy article in The New York Times, Evans reported that he had come to Washington, D.C., with romantic ideas about “the duel of debate, the exchange of ideas” and, instead, found “a legislative body that had lost its focus and was in danger of losing its soul.” He felt senators were quick to speak out on issues but slow to listen to each other or agree to compromise: “I have lived through five years of bickering and protracted paralysis. That is enough. I just can’t face another six years of frustrating gridlock.” Not much has changed!

After leaving the Senate in 1987, Evans spent time as a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. He subsequently returned home to Seattle, opening a consulting firm Daniel J. Evans Associates with offices on 3rd Avenue overlooking his first major civil engineering project—the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

From 1989 until 1994, he was, among other things, a political analyst and commentator for KIRO Radio and TV, and a regular contributor to newspaper editorial pages on issues ranging from global warming and Indian treaty rights to the “nasty partisanship” that seems to characterize modern-day politics. Since his administrations were characterized by bipartisan cooperation, and were so untouched by scandal and he himself so widely admired for his forthrightness, the aspect of having more pragmatic-minded engineers in high public office has a certain appeal.

In 1993, Evans was appointed to the Board of Regents for the UW and quickly made his presence known. As reported by The Seattle Times: “At meetings where everyone is exceedingly polite, Evans pokes for answers in a booming, made-for-television voice. Administrators noticeably squirm when he’s around.” He was named president of the group in 1996. When Evans was reappointed to a second six-year term on the board in 1999, the Times wrote: “As a governor, former U.S. senator, and one-time president of Evergreen State College, few can match Evans’s breadth and depth of knowledge, experience and commitment to public service.”

A man with extraordinary enthusiasm and energy, seemingly characterized by the “Eveready battery” bunny, Evans holds (or has held) leadership positions with a dozen-plus corporate, educational, or nonprofit boards, like Voicestream Inc., the National Information Consortium, the Evergreen State College Foundation, Costco Wholesale, Cray, Inc., and the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Among his other noteworthy activities, Evans, along with philanthropist William H. Gates Jr., former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency William Ruckelshaus, and Global Partnerships Chairman Bill Clapp, founded the Seattle Initiative for Global Development, an alliance of business and civic leaders addressing global poverty. He also chaired the National Academy of Science’s Commission on Policy Options for Global Warming, and co-chaired with former President Jimmy Carter a delegation to monitor the elections in Nicaragua.

As an influential leader and role model with years of community service, Evans has received numerous awards and honors. The largest building on the ESC campus is the Daniel J. Evans Library, named in his honor. The UW has memorialized his name through the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, where he has also been a frequent lecturer and active participant in its programs. “I want the school to turn out students who have great pride in public administration and the feeling that public administration service is a first-rate calling, because it is,” says Evans.

In 2001, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle made Evans and his wife Business Alliance Honorees and, in 2003, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors honored them with its First Citizen Award in 2003. In 2004, the Washington State Legislature established the Daniel J. Evans Civic Education Award to recognize students “for their demonstrated knowledge of government, involvement in their communities, and civic service.” The same year, Dan and Nancy Evans received the Legacy Award from the Rainier Institute.

State congressman Sid Morrison, in announcing the Rainier award, stated: “Many of us don’t remember a time when the Evanses weren’t prominent voices in our community. Both Dan and Nancy have been known to roll up their sleeves to help, whether it’s for local charities, higher education, or a family friend. It is that kind of diligence and commitment that has made this community a better place to live.”

The Seattle Times reported that the Evanses personify the term “power couple” in the state of Washington. “Thousands of civic and corporate leaders entered public service through the Evanses’ model of leadership, one that aspires to greatness through discourse, wisdom and respect,” wrote Booth Gardner (Washington governor from 1985 to 1993).

With his brothers Robert and Roger, Evans set up an endowment to fund a distinguished UW lecture program in honor of his parents—the Daniel L. and Irma Evans Lecture—presented annually by the UW department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Evans believes having civil engineers involved in community affairs and politics benefits everyone. He says: “Society is too dependent on technology today not to have engineers in public leadership. It’s a waste of talent not to have those with strong engineering backgrounds making vital decisions involving growth, infrastructure, and the environment. All engineers need to do is show up with a broad perspective.” That’s exactly what Evans did!

Today, in his eighties, Evans continues to maintain a daunting schedule; plus, he is busy writing his autobiography.