{{Short description|American author, lecturer, and business executive}} {{Infobox person | name = Gail Evans | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Gail Hirschorn | birth_date = {{birth date and age |1941|12|17}} | birth_place = New York City | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | education = | alma_mater = Bennington College | occupation = Lecturer, author, journalist | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | known_for = Author, senior executive at CNN | boards = | networth = | spouse = Robert Evans (div. 2000) | children = 3 | parents = | relatives = | website = }}
'''Gail Hirschorn Evans''' (born 17 December 1941) is an American author, lecturer, and business executive. She is known for being the highest ranking female executive at Cable News Network<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/CNN-pioneer-Gail-Evans-quitting-after-21-years-2016588.php |title=CNN pioneer Gail Evans quitting after 21 years |website=Houston Chronicle |date=6 June 2001 |access-date=2018-04-03}}</ref> and for her two books, ''Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman'' and ''She Wins, You Win''.
==Early life== Evans was born on 17 December 1941 and received a bachelor's degree from Bennington College. Her first job was at the office of The Honorable William Fitts Ryan (D-NY). She later served as legislative and executive assistant to Sen. Harrison Arlington Williams of New Jersey. During the Johnson administration she served in Office of the Special Counsel to the President where she worked on the creation of the Presidents Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and the 1965 Civil Rights Act. She later moved to the Import Export Bank when Hobart Taylor became president of the Bank. Lyndon B. Johnson Administration.<ref name="gatech.edu">{{cite web|url=https://www.scheller.gatech.edu/directory/faculty/evans/index.html|title=Gail Evans|website=Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business}}</ref>
==CNN== Evans began working at CNN at its inception in 1980. By the time she retired in 2001, she was executive vice president of the CNN Newsgroup.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=4 May 2003|title=CNN.com - Transcripts|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/04/lklw.00.html|access-date=|website=CNN}}</ref> During that time she was responsible for program and talent development at all of CNN’s domestic networks overseeing national and international talk shows and the Network Guest Bookings Department,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/cnn-taps-bondy-shuffles-exex-1117801473/|title=CNN taps Bondy, shuffles exex|first=Paula|last=Bernstein|date=15 June 2001|publisher=}}</ref> which scheduled about 25,000 guests each year. She is responsible for developing many of CNN’s talk shows including ''Crossfire'', ''Burden of Proof'', ''Talkback Live'', ''Capital Gang'' and Crier & Co.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-25-ca-980-story.html|title=CNN Task Force Mulls Programming for Women : Television: Female executives and producers are also looking into the possibility of forming a women's cable network.|first=JANE|last=HALL|date=25 September 1992|publisher=|via=LA Times}}</ref>
She is credited with helping to discover and guide the careers of Katie Couric<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2006/09/04/with-couric-cbs-takes-a-step-forward/|title=With Couric, CBS takes a step forward|date=4 September 2006 |publisher=}}</ref> and Greta Van Susteren.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gunther|first=Marc|date=12 August 1995|title=LAYING DOWN THE LAW AT CNN|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/08/12/laying-down-the-law-at-cnn/925c8d49-5804-4ee5-9162-9ab14ab2fe04/|access-date=|website=|publisher=|via=The Washington Post}}</ref>
==Post-CNN Career== Her book ''Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman'' came out in September, 2001 and reached the top 10 on the New York Times bestseller list and being translated into 21 different languages.<ref>{{cite web|last=Haiyan|first=Hu|date=18 June 2013|title=A woman opens doors|url=http://www.pressreader.com/china/china-daily-usa/20130618/281827166330552|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404073700/http://www.pressreader.com/china/china-daily-usa/20130618/281827166330552|archive-date=4 April 2018|access-date=|website=China Daily}}</ref> Following an appearance on Larry King Live,<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=CNN Transcript - Larry King Live Weekend: What Do Men Know About Success that Women Need to Learn? - April 8, 2000|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0004/08/lklw.00.html|access-date=|website=CNN|archive-date=October 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006170436/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0004/08/lklw.00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Evans' book spiked as high as #3 on Amazon.com's bestseller list.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kloer|first=Phil|date=15 August 2011|title=CNN pioneer Gail Evans quitting after 21 years|url=https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/CNN-pioneer-Gail-Evans-quitting-after-21-years-2016588.php|access-date=|website=Houston Chronicle|publisher=}}</ref>
In 2003, Evans wrote a follow-up, ''She Wins, You Win''.<ref name="publishersweekly.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59240-025-6|title=Nonfiction Book Review: ''She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know'' by Gail Evans|work=Publishers Weekly|date=April 2003 }}</ref> Though not as much of a commercial success, the second book got strong reviews. ''Publishers Weekly'' described it as, "an aggressive but motivating handbook for women who are serious about career success."<ref name="publishersweekly.com"/>
Evans is also a corporate speaker and consultant on women in the workplace, giving lectures to AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, GE, Microsoft, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, KPMG, Cisco, IBM, Thomson Reuters, Deloitte, Intel, and Walmart.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Gail Evans: Author, Speaker, She Wins You Win, Play Like a Man Win Like A Woman|url=http://gailevans.me/bio.html|access-date=|website=Gail Evans}}</ref>
She teaches organizational behavior<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/queen-bee-syndrome-women-workplace-catalyst_n_1588604.html|title=Queen Bee Syndrome False: Women Help Other Women Advance In The Workplace, Study|first=Emma|last=Gray|date=12 June 2012|publisher=|via=Huff Post}}</ref> as it relates to gender, race, and ethnicity at Georgia Tech.<ref name="gatech.edu"/>
==Personal life== Evans is married to former CBS correspondent Bob Evans for more than 30 years before getting divorced in March 2000.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wescott|first=Gail|date=22 May 2000|title=Breaking the Code|url=http://people.com/archive/breaking-the-code-vol-53-no-20/|access-date=|website=People|publisher=}}</ref> They have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Gail Hirschorn}} Category:American businesspeople Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American women writers Category:Bennington College alumni Category:People from Atlanta