During the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents’ Fort Worth meeting this summer, Chancellor John Sharp announced the creation of an Endowed Dean’s Scholarship honoring Judge David L. Evans ’71, presiding judge of the Eighth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas and former judge of the 48th Judicial District Court in Tarrant County.
The new Texas A&M University School of Law scholarship seeks to honor Evans’ dedication to the legal profession, professional integrity and pursuit of justice and will be awarded to qualified students who embody these characteristics, school officials said.
“A true Aggie, Judge Evans exemplifies exactly the characteristics we aspire to see in our students, in our graduates, and in our lawyers and leaders as a whole,” said Dean Robert B. Ahdieh. “I’m hopeful this new scholarship offering will help us attract to Texas A&M future attorneys who will advance the rule of law and give back to their communities in all the ways that Judge Evans has.”
Evans is a proud third-generation Aggie and a former member of the Corps of Cadets. After graduating from Texas A&M in 1971, he served in the U.S. Army before attending Baylor University Law School and receiving his law license in 1978. He spent more than two decades in private practice before becoming a judge in 2003. He is board-certified in civil appellate law and civil trial law, served as a director of the State Bar of Texas, chair of the Commission for Lawyer Discipline and as vice chair of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Evans served as president of the Tarrant County Bar Association, is a sustaining charter fellow and past director of the Tarrant County Bar Foundation, and is a sustaining life fellow and past board member of the Texas Bar Foundation. He is also a member of the Supreme Court of Texas Advisory Committee, the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court, and the Texas A&M School of Law Dean’s Advisory Council. He is a recipient of both the Distinguished Aggie Lawyer Award and the Texas A&M University School of Law’s Excellence in Judicial Leadership Award.
Esteemed colleagues including Gov. Greg Abbott, Senator John Cornyn and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht shared personal messages of congratulations and commendations for Evans during the scholarship announcement, all noting his work in judicial and legal communities across the state. Abbott said of Evans, “Throughout your career, you have remained steadfast in your pursuit of justice and unwavering in your mission to increase trust in the judiciary,” and through this scholarship “[y]our legacy will live on in the lives of law students for generations to come.”
In receiving this special honor, Judge Evans expressed his gratitude and noted that “[t]here’s not an Aggie that I have met that hasn’t helped me or offered to help others that I know. It is just in the DNA of who we are, as Aggies and as lawyers—to serve. I am humbled beyond words to have this scholarship and help law students pursue their careers in a meaningful way.”
The endowed scholarship has already attracted tremendous interest, and over 60 lawyers and law firms from across the state have committed their support.
For more information about the scholarship and/or to donate, contact Myke Holt, Texas A&M Foundation, at 817-212-4061 or mholt@txamfoundation.com.
School officials send a special thanks to those who helped spearhead the creation of the scholarship, especially U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ‘97 and Neal Adams ’68.
By Texas A&M University School of Law
Article originally published in Texas A&M Today. Reprinted with permission.