Thomas W. Evans was chair of the trustees at Teachers College, where he also served as an adjunct professor of education and administration. His books include The School in the Home and Mentors. A graduate of Columbia Law School, his legal publications include Admissions Practice and the PLI series on Nuclear Litigation (editor and co-author). Evans' knowledge of politics stems largely from his years with the Mudge Rose firm (once known as Nixon Mudge), where he was a senior litigator and (for a decade) managing partner. Quite apart from his professional duties, he oversaw the 1968 New Hampshire primary and set up a national grass roots citizens' organization. Richard Nixon described Evans to historian Theodore White as one of three men who convinced Nixon to run for the presidency again in 1968.

While Evans never served in the Nixon administration, he was counsel to the Points of Light Foundation under Bush (41) and for eight years chair of the White House's national symposium on partnerships in education under Reagan. He consulted with officials of the Clinton administration about educational reform, and, locally, served on commissions under Mayors Koch and Dinkins.