Portrait of Kenneth Evans

Kenneth M. Evans

Scholar in Science and Technology Policy

Biography

Kenneth M. Evans, Ph.D., is a scholar in science and technology policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, assistant director for innovation policy at Rice’s Office of Innovation, and lecturer in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. He also serves as the program manager and co-founder, along with Kirstin R.W. Matthews, of the White House Scientist and Science Policy Dynamic Digital Archive — a heritage collection housed in Rice University’s Woodson Research Center, which preserves materials related to the contemporary history of U.S. presidential scientific advisors.

Evans studies the U.S. federal science, technology, and innovation policymaking system, including funding for research and development, international scientific collaboration, and the governance of emerging technologies. In particular, his research focuses on the role and history of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Evans has also served as a mentor for the Fondren Fellows program at Rice University’s Fondren Library, a co-sponsor of the Rice Science Policy Network, and a mentor for the National Mentoring Community of the American Physical Society.

He received a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree and doctorate in applied physics from Rice University.

Contact at kenneth.evans@rice.edu or 713-348-3824.