Evans lectured at the
University of Wales, Swansea from 1957 to 1978, rising to become a professor. In 1978, he returned to Oxford University as
Jesus Professor of Celtic and also became a
Professorial Fellow of Jesus College. He was appointed as a Fellow of the
British Academy in 1983, having delivered the Academy's
Sir John Rhys Memorial Lecture in 1977, named in honour of the first Oxford Celtic Professor. He retired in 1996. His particular research interest was early
Celtic culture throughout Europe, dealing with its relationship with that of the
classical world, and in the history of the
Insular Celtic languages, including the early literatures of Wales and Ireland. ==Selected works==