Commissioner of Food and Drugs

The United States commissioner of food and drugs is the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The commissioner is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The commissioner reports to the secretary of health and human services.

Due to frequent controversies involving the FDA, appointments are not always prompt and the agency is often headed by an acting commissioner. For example, Andrew von Eschenbach's appointment was held up by senators who objected to the FDA's refusal to allow emergency contraception to be sold over the counter.

The commissioner has frequently been a physician, but this is not a requirement for the post. Commissioners rarely come from a food-related background.

List of commissioners The following persons served as Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration:

Unnumbered, colored rows indicate acting commissioners.

Name(birth–death)PortraitTerm of officeAppointed by(term)Start of termEnd of term1Harvey Washington WileyJanuary 1, 1907March 15, 1912Theodore Roosevelt2Carl L. AlsbergDecember 16, 1912July 15, 1921William Howard Taft3Walter G. CampbellJuly 16, 1921June 30, 1924Warren G. Harding4Charles Albert Browne Jr.July 1, 1924June 30, 1927Calvin Coolidge5Walter G. CampbellJuly 1, 1927April 30, 1944Calvin Coolidge6Paul B. DunbarMay 6, 1944May 31, 1951Franklin D. Roosevelt7Charles W. CrawfordJune 1, 1951July 31, 1954Harry S. Truman8George P. LarrickAugust 12, 1954December 27, 1965Dwight D. Eisenhower9James L. GoddardJanuary 17, 1966July 1, 1968Lyndon B. Johnson10Herbert L. Ley Jr.July 1, 1968December 12, 1969Lyndon B. Johnson11Charles C. EdwardsDecember 13, 1969March 15, 1973Richard Nixon12Alexander M. SchmidtJuly 20, 1973November 30, 1976Richard Nixon13Donald KennedyApril 4, 1977June 30, 1979Jimmy Carter14Jere E. GoyanOctober 21, 1979January 20, 1981Jimmy Carter15Arthur H. Hayes Jr.April 13, 1981September 11, 1983Ronald Reagan16Frank E. YoungJuly 15, 1984December 17, 1989Ronald Reagan17David A. KesslerNovember 8, 1990February 28, 1997George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton18Jane E. HenneyJanuary 17, 1999January 19, 2001Bill Clinton19Mark McClellanNovember 14, 2002March 26, 2004George W. Bush20Lester CrawfordJuly 18, 2005September 23, 2005George W. Bush21Andrew von EschenbachDecember 13, 2006January 20, 2009George W. Bush–Frank M. Torti January 20, 2009March 29, 2009–Joshua M. SharfsteinMarch 30, 2009May 21, 200922Margaret HamburgMay 22, 2009April 1, 2015Barack Obama–Stephen OstroffApril 1, 2015February 22, 2016Barack Obama23Robert CaliffFebruary 22, 2016January 20, 2017Barack Obama–Stephen OstroffJanuary 20, 2017May 11, 2017Donald Trump24Scott GottliebMay 11, 2017April 5, 2019Donald Trump–Norman SharplessApril 5, 2019November 1, 2019Donald Trump–AdmiralBrett GiroirNovember 6, 2019December 17, 2019Donald Trump25Stephen HahnDecember 17, 2019January 20, 2021Donald Trump–Janet WoodcockJanuary 20, 2021February 17, 2022Joe Biden26Robert CaliffFebruary 17, 2022January 20, 2025Joe Biden–Sara BrennerJanuary 24, 2025April 1, 2025Donald Trump27Marty MakaryApril 1, 2025May 13, 2026Donald Trump–Kyle DiamantasMay 15, 2026IncumbentDonald Trump

Table notes:

See also Regulation of therapeutic goods

References