Donald Wayne Bivens (born February 5, 1952) is an American attorney, former member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

's board of governors, Chair-Elect of the

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

's Section of Litigation, and former chairman of the

Arizona Democratic Party The Arizona Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. Along with its main rival, the Arizona Republican Party, it is one of two major parties in the state. The Arizon ...

Personal life

Bivens was born in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, the son of Dr. Melvin D. Bivens and Frances Bivens. In 1953, his family moved to

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

where Bivens was raised in a middle-class family. His mother was an elementary school teacher with the Albuquerque Public School System. His father was a professor at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

and a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist at Lovelace Medical Center, starting in 1953, and served as head of its OB/GYN department from 1957 until his retirement in 1983. Beginning at an early age, Bivens held jobs as a gas station attendant, a musician, and kitchen worker. After graduating from high school, Bivens attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

where he earned a B.A. degree in English in 1974, graduating magna cum laude and with departmental honors. He then earned a J.D. degree in 1977 from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

, where he served as the Note and Comment Editor on the ''

Texas Law Review The ''Texas Law Review'' is a student-edited and -produced law review affiliated with the University of Texas School of Law (Austin). The ''Review'' publishes seven issues per year, six of which include articles, book reviews, essays, commentaries ...

'' and was a member of the Order of the Barristers. In 1998, Bivens was elected as President of the Arizona State Bar. He's currently an attorney with Snell & Wilmer.

2012 U.S. Senate campaign

Bivens ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

seat currently held by

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013. Following the death of John McCain in 2018, Kyl briefly returned to the Senate; his resignatio ...

. On March 28, 2012, he withdrew from the race.

References

External links

at Don Bivens PLLC
Arizona tries to heal wounds
''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'', May 7, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bivens, Don 1952 births Living people American lawyers Arizona Democratic Party chairs Politicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico Politicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Texas School of Law alumni Yale College alumni