FORT LAUDERDALE, FL May 18, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present John D. Evans with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Evans celebrates over 50 years' experience in his professional career and has been honored for his achievements, leadership qualities, innovations, credentials and successes. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected based on current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, leadership, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Having accrued inimitable expertise in the pursuit of his career, Mr. Evans has garnered a laudable reputation as a telecommunications and innovative executive, whose professional journey has led to positions throughout the United States. Best known for co-founding C-SPAN in 1979, an idea that began to take shape while he served in the US Navy, C-SPAN is a cable-satellite television network that televises the US Congress, federal government proceedings and public affairs programming to over 86 Million homes, hotels and businesses.
After running two radio stations in Charlottesville, VA, he began his cable television career in 1972 as manager of Capitol Cablevision Corporation in Charleston, WV, owned by American Television and Communications ("ATC"). Mr. Evans was subsequently promoted in 1974 to serve as ATC's mid-west regional manager. After a series of mergers, ATC became Time Warner Cable.
In 1976, he was recruited to invest in and serve as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Arlington Telecommunication Corp. (ARTEC) to build the first cable system in the Washington DC area. Subsequently ARTEC was bought by Hauser Communications (HCI) of New York City; he then became President of HCI and in turn the president of HCI's acquisitions: Arlington Cable Partners Ltd., Suburban Cable Partners, North Central Cable Co, and Montgomery Cable Partners. He formed and became CEO/President of Evans Telecommunications Company from 1983 to the present. From 1992 until 2002, Mr. Evans also owned and operated a cattle breeding farm, Waterford Farm in Middleburg, Virginia.
Since 1978, Mr. Evans has served on the C-SPAN board, executive committee member, Executive Committee Chair from 1992-1994, and chair of the audit and finance committee between 1997-2018. Since 1994, he has remained a trustee of the C-SPAN Educational Foundation. He is former board director of several other communications companies, including Nelson Cable Company, GBR Science, Falcon Cable TV, and Falcon Communications Company in the U.S.
From 2005 to 2016, Mr. Evans served on the board and as an investor of Accelerator Technology Holdings Company, a Middle Eastern technology, telecommunications and media investment company in Amman, Jordan. Among his countless other professional roles, Mr. Evans has taught, lectured, and served as a keynote speaker nationally and internationally. He has been and is currently active on numerous boards.
Born in Detroit, Mr. Evans attended the University of Michigan, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in speech, radio, and television in 1966. Leading several community and civic initiatives throughout his career, Mr. Evans has been a key figure in academia, especially at the University of Michigan, where he serves on the School of Information External Advisory Board and served on College of LS&A Dean's Advisory Council to assist in developing plans to meet the college's long-range educational goals.
In 1999, he was appointed to the University of Michigan's President's Advisory Group to help guide the University into the Digital Age. In March 2000, he was appointed to the University's Blue-Ribbon Commission on Information Technology to study the impact of information technology on all aspects of University life. In 2009, he was appointed to U of M's Center for Global Health's Advisory Board. He was a commencement speaker for the University's 2009 graduating class in Communications and 2016 class of LGBTQ Graduates.
In 1998, Michigan State University appointed him to the Advisory Board of the Quello Center which seeks to stimulate and inform debate on the economic and social implications of media, communication, and information innovations of our digital age.
Among his other projects, Mr. Evans served on the board of trustees of lnternet2, a nonprofit U.S. computer backbone networking consortium comprised of 582 international institutes, U.S. research universities and government research facilities headquartered in Washington, DC, and in various roles with the International Cancer and AIDS Research Foundation, as well as the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
A well-known philanthropist, Mr. Evans most notably founded the John D. Evans Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to a handful of issues, including social justice, LGBTQ initiatives, AIDS vaccine research and environmental protection. Through the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, he was vice-chair of the board of directors and worked as the chairperson of the strategic planning committee.
In January 2020, the American Medical Association Foundation appointed him Chairman of the AMA Foundation Fellowship Commission for LGBTQ Health. A unique and innovative initiative designed to dramatically shape the future of LGBTQ health. The new initiative will create a cadre of LGBTQ health specialists through the AMA Foundation LGBTQ Fellowship Program – a national fellowship program to promote best practices and shared outcomes, while exponentially improving the quality of LGBTQ health care across the nation.
After earning his degree, he entered the U.S. Navy, enlisting for five years and achieving the rank of a lieutenant. Serving aboard the USS America and USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carriers, Mr. Evans also headed the SEALAB project's television operations and then served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon in Virginia.
Mr. Evans is active with several industry-related organizations. Among them, he was a member of the Cable TV Administration and Marketing Society. Elected in 1978, he is also a past president and current ex officio board member of the Virginia Cable Association. First Elected in 1981 to the National Cable Television Association board, he is the longest serving board member ever to serve on the Association's board and was recently re-elected in April 2020.
In 2012, he was named by the State Department as a Patron of Diplomacy, appointed to the State Department's Fine Arts Committee and the Global Equality Fund which is supported by 14 countries and dedicated to protecting and defending the human rights and fundamental freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons around the world.
The recipient of several significant awards, Mr. Evans was inducted into the Cable Television Industry's Hall of Fame in 2016.
Mr. Evans' growing interest in the application of technology to medical problems and social issues also has led him to an interest in HIV/AIDS and other issues facing society. In 1995, he was appointed by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, to Dr. Gallo's Advisory Board for the Institute of Human Virology (IHV), a leading international scientific and clinical research center for AIDS located at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. In 2008, he was awarded the IHV's "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his work in AIDS Vaccine advocacy and public service. In 2018, he was appointed Co-chair of Dr. Gallo's Advisory Board.
He was previously named as an Entrepreneur of the Year by Washington and Jefferson College in 2009, received The Courage in Business Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Chambers of Commerce in 2009, named to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in Richmond in 2004, as well as to the Virginia Cable and Communications Hall of Fame in 2001.
A celebrated Marquis listee, Mr. Evans has been featured in approximately 70 editions of Who's Who, including Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in Media and Communications.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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