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Commissioner of Food and Drugs

Head of US Food and Drug Administration

Summary

Head of US Food and Drug Administration

FieldValue
postUnited States Commissioner of Food and Drugs
imageMarty Makary, official portrait (2025) (cropped).png
incumbentMarty Makary
actingno
incumbentsinceApril 1, 2025
departmentDepartment of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
reports_toSecretary of Health and Human Services
termlengthNo fixed term

Food and Drug Administration 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.

No.Name
(birth–death)PortraitTerm of officeRefs.Appointed by
(term)Start of termEnd of term
1Harvey Washington Wiley[[File:FDA History - Harvey Wiley Portrait (4901385302).jpg70px]]January 1, 1907March 15, 1912Theodore Roosevelt
2Carl L. Alsberg[[File:Carl L. Alsberg.gif70px]]December 16, 1912July 15, 1921William Howard Taft
3Walter G. Campbell[[File:Walter G. Campbell.gif70px]]July 16, 1921June 30, 1924url=https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-leadership-1907-today/walter-campbelltitle=Walter G. Campbellpublisher=FDA}}Warren G. Harding
4Charles Albert Browne Jr.[[File:Charles Albert Browne Jr.gif70px]]July 1, 1924June 30, 1927Calvin Coolidge
5Walter G. Campbell[[File:Walter G. Campbell.gif70px]]July 1, 1927April 30, 1944Calvin Coolidge
6Paul B. Dunbar[[File:Paul B. Dunbar.gif70px]]May 6, 1944May 31, 1951Franklin D. Roosevelt
7Charles W. Crawford[[File:Charles W. Crawford.gif70px]]June 1, 1951July 31, 1954Harry S. Truman
8George P. Larrick[[File:George P. Larrick.gif70px]]August 12, 1954December 27, 1965Dwight D. Eisenhower
9James L. Goddard[[File:James L. Goddard.gif70px]]January 17, 1966July 1, 1968Lyndon B. Johnson
10Herbert L. Ley Jr.[[File:Herbert L. Ley Jr.gif70px]]July 1, 1968December 12, 1969Lyndon B. Johnson
11Charles C. Edwards[[File:Charles C. Edwards.jpg70px]]December 13, 1969March 15, 1973Richard Nixon
12Alexander M. Schmidt[[File:Alexander M. Schmidt.gif70px]]July 20, 1973November 30, 1976Richard Nixon
13Donald Kennedy[[File:Donald Kennedy photo.png70px]]April 4, 1977June 30, 1979Jimmy Carter
14Jere E. Goyan[[File:Jere E. Goyan.gif70px]]October 21, 1979January 20, 1981Jimmy Carter
15Arthur H. Hayes Jr.[[File:Arthur H. Hayes Jr.gif70px]]April 13, 1981September 11, 1983Ronald Reagan
16Frank E. Young[[File:Frank Edward Young.jpg70px]]July 15, 1984December 17, 1989Ronald Reagan
17David A. Kessler[[File:DavidAaronKesslerApr2009.jpg70px]]November 8, 1990February 28, 1997George H. W. Bush
18Jane E. Henney[[File:Jane E. Henney.jpg70px]]January 17, 1999January 19, 2001Bill Clinton
19Mark McClellan[[File:MarkMcClellan.jpg70px]]November 14, 2002March 26, 2004George W. Bush
20Lester Crawford[[File:Lester Crawford.jpg70px]]July 18, 2005September 23, 2005George W. Bush
21Andrew von Eschenbach[[File:AVonEchenbach2.jpg70px]]December 13, 2006January 20, 2009George W. Bush
–Frank M. TortiJanuary 20, 2009March 29, 2009
–Joshua M. Sharfstein[[File:Dr. Joshua Sharfstein (cropped).jpg70px]]March 30, 2009May 21, 2009
22Margaret Hamburg[[File:Margaret Hamburg official portrait.jpg70px]]May 22, 2009April 1, 2015Barack Obama
–Stephen Ostroff[[File:Stephen Ostroff (13488260153).jpg70px]]April 1, 2015February 22, 2016title=Meet Stephen Ostroff, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicineurl=https://www.fda.gov/node/365120archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612180539/https://www.fda.gov/node/365120url-status=deadarchive-date=June 12, 2019publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administrationaccess-date=2 November 2019language=endate=9 February 2019}}Barack Obama
23Robert Califf[[File:Robert_Califf.jpg70px]]February 22, 2016January 20, 2017url=https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/robert-califfarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218150917/https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/robert-califfurl-status=livearchive-date=February 18, 2022title=Robert M. Califf M.D., MACCpublisher=FDA}}Barack Obama
–Stephen Ostroff[[File:Stephen Ostroff (13488260153).jpg70px]]January 20, 2017May 11, 2017Donald Trump
24Scott Gottlieb[[File:Scott Gottlieb official portrait.jpg70px]]May 11, 2017April 5, 2019Donald Trump
–Norman Sharpless[[File:Ned Sharpless official portrait (cropped).jpg70px]]April 5, 2019November 1, 2019Donald Trump
–Admiral
Brett Giroir[[File:ADM Brett P. Giroir, USPHS.jpg70px]]November 6, 2019December 17, 2019url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/11/01/top-hhs-official-run-fda-temporary-basis-while-trump-readies-nomination-texas-cancer-doctor/title=Trump announces plan to nominate Texas cancer doctor to run FDAlast=McGinleyfirst=Lauriedate=2019-11-01newspaper=The Washington Postlanguage=enaccess-date=2019-11-02url-access=subscription}}Donald Trump
25Stephen Hahn[[File:Stephen Hahn MD.jpg70px]]December 17, 2019January 20, 2021Donald Trump
–Janet Woodcock[[File:Janet Woodcock (2021).png70px]]January 20, 2021February 17, 2022Joe Biden
26Robert Califf[[File:Robert M. Califf, FDA Commissioner.jpg70px]]February 17, 2022January 20, 2025url=https://friendsofcancerresearch.org/news/regulatory-focus-califf-disappointed-about-election-warns-of-changes-at-fda/title=Regulatory Focus — Califf ‘disappointed’ about election, warns of changes at FDAfirst=Joanne S.last=Eglovitchdate=November 12, 2024work=Friends of Cancer Research}}Joe Biden
–Sara Brenner[[File:Sara Brenner.jpg70px]]January 24, 2025April 1, 2025Donald Trump
27Marty Makary[[File:Marty Makary, official portrait (2025) (cropped).png70px]]April 1, 2025IncumbentDonald Trump

Table notes:

References

References

  1. "How the FDA's food division fails to regulate health and safety hazards".
  2. "Commissioners". FDA.
  3. "Acting Commissioners". FDA.
  4. "Harvey Washington Wiley". FDA.
  5. "Carl L. Alsberg". FDA.
  6. "Walter G. Campbell". FDA.
  7. "Charles A. Browne". FDA.
  8. "Paul B. Dunbar". FDA.
  9. "Charles Crawford". FDA.
  10. "George P. Larrick". FDA.
  11. "James L. Goddard". FDA.
  12. "Herbert Ley". FDA.
  13. "Charles Edwards". FDA.
  14. "Alexander M. Schmidt". FDA.
  15. "Donald Kennedy". FDA.
  16. "Jere E. Goyan". FDA.
  17. "Arthur Hull Hayes". FDA.
  18. "Frank E. Young". FDA.
  19. "David A. Kessler". FDA.
  20. "Jane E. Henney". FDA.
  21. "Mark B. McClellan". FDA.
  22. "Lester M. Crawford". FDA.
  23. "Andrew C. von Eschenbach MD". FDA.
  24. "Frank M. Torti, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.". FDA.
  25. McCurdy, Debra A.. (April 3, 2009). "Sharfstein Named Acting FDA Commissioner". Health Industry Washington Watch.
  26. "Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.". FDA.
  27. (9 February 2019). "Meet Stephen Ostroff, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine". U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
  28. "Meet Stephen Ostroff, M.D., Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine". FDA.
  29. "Robert M. Califf M.D., MACC". FDA.
  30. "Scott Gottlieb M.D.". FDA.
  31. "Norman E. "Ned" Sharpless MD". FDA.
  32. McGinley, Laurie. (2019-11-01). "Trump announces plan to nominate Texas cancer doctor to run FDA". [[The Washington Post]].
  33. "ADM Brett P. Giroir MD". FDA.
  34. (2021-01-20). "Stephen Hahn".
  35. Kunzmann, Kevin. (January 20, 2021). "Janet Woodcock, MD, Appointed as Acting FDA Commissioner".
  36. "Janet Woodcock M.D.". FDA.
  37. Eglovitch, Joanne S.. (November 12, 2024). "Regulatory Focus — Califf ‘disappointed’ about election, warns of changes at FDA". [[Friends of Cancer Research]].
  38. (January 27, 2025). "Dr. Sara Brenner Appointed FDA Acting Commissioner as Trump Nominee Awaits Senate Confirmation".
  39. "Sara Brenner M.D., M.P.H.". FDA.
  40. "Martin A Makary M.D., M.P.H.". FDA.
  41. (April 1, 2025). "Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H., Sworn in as FDA Commissioner". FDA.
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