Joseph Evans Attwell (March 25, 1931 – October 27, 2007[1]) was the youngest managing partner of Vinson & Elkins, the largest law firm in Texas and the largest single law office in the world,[2] from 1981 to 1991.
He was the Chairman of the Board of the Welch Foundation[3] from 2005 until his death.
He was a two time Chairman of the Harris County Hospital District Board,[4] the second largest county hospital district in the world.
[5] Attwell served as a Trustee of Rice University[6] where the J. Evans Attwell-Welch postdoctoral fellowships honor his name at the University's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.
[7] He was awarded Rice's Gold Medal for extraordinary service to the University in 1997.