Cheryl L. Shavers

Cheryl L. Shavers (born December 26, 1953, San Marcos, Texas) is an American chemist, engineer, and businesswoman. After gaining a degree in chemistry, she worked as an engineer at Motorola. Shavers returned to university for a few years, gaining a PhD in solid state chemistry, before returning to private industry. Shavers worked at increasingly senior levels in Silicon Valley, at Hewlett Packard and Intel. She served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology in the Clinton Administration (1999–2001), and is a registered patent agent in the US Patent and Trademark Office. After leaving government service in 2001, she established a consultancy and strategy business, Global Smarts Inc. Shavers was inducted into the Women In Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame of the Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education

Shavers' mother, Erna Mae Caldwell, was a maid, who brought her and her sister up alone in South Phoenix in financial hardship. and also published on oxides and nitrides.

Her next step was to Hewlett Packard in California, first as a semiconductor process development engineer. At Hewlett Packard, she moved to the Technical Legal Department, and spent four years working towards a Juris Doctor degree at night.

Government office

Shavers was confirmed by the US Senate as Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology in 1999, serving till 2001.

The role of the Under Secretary included overseeing the Commerce Department's Technology Administration (TA) and the Office of Technology Policy (OTP), as well as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and the Office of Space Commercialization.

In her capacity as Under Secretary, Shavers also represented the Department of Commerce in a variety of science and technology forums, including serving as co-chair of the Technology Subcommittee under the U.S.-Egypt Partnership for Economic Growth. She lives in Santa Clara, California, with her husband, daughter, and twin sons.