Commissioner of Food and Drugs
Head of US 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 appointed by the president of the United States and must be 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.[1]
List of commissioners
Unnumbered, colored rows indicate acting commissioners.
No.
Name(birth–death)
Portrait
Term of office
Appointed by(term)
Start of term
End of term
1
Harvey Washington Wiley
January 1, 1907
March 15, 1912
Theodore Roosevelt
2
Carl L. Alsberg
December 16, 1912
July 15, 1921
William Howard Taft
3
Walter G. Campbell
July 16, 1921
June 30, 1924
Warren G. Harding
4
Charles Albert Browne Jr.
July 1, 1924
June 30, 1927
Calvin Coolidge
3[2]
Walter G. Campbell
July 1, 1927
April 30, 1944
Calvin Coolidge
5
Paul B. Dunbar
May 6, 1944
May 31, 1951
Franklin D. Roosevelt
6
Charles W. Crawford
June 1, 1951
July 31, 1954
Harry S. Truman
7
George P. Larrick
August 12, 1954
December 27, 1965
Dwight D. Eisenhower
8
James L. Goddard
January 17, 1966
July 1, 1968
Lyndon B. Johnson
9
Herbert L. Ley Jr.
July 1, 1968
December 12, 1969
Lyndon B. Johnson
10
Charles C. Edwards
December 13, 1969
March 15, 1973
Richard Nixon
11
Alexander M. Schmidt
July 20, 1973
November 30, 1976
Richard Nixon
12
Donald Kennedy
April 4, 1977
June 30, 1979
Jimmy Carter
13
Jere E. Goyan
October 21, 1979
January 20, 1981
Jimmy Carter
14
Arthur H. Hayes Jr.
April 13, 1981
September 11, 1983
Ronald Reagan
15
Frank E. Young
July 15, 1984
December 17, 1989
Ronald Reagan
16
David A. Kessler
November 8, 1990
February 28, 1997
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
17
Jane E. Henney
January 17, 1999
January 19, 2001
Bill Clinton
18
Mark McClellan
November 14, 2002
March 26, 2004
George W. Bush
19
Lester Crawford
July 18, 2005
September 23, 2005
George W. Bush
20
Andrew von Eschenbach
December 13, 2006
January 20, 2009
George W. Bush
21
Margaret Hamburg
May 22, 2009
April 1, 2015
Barack Obama
–
Stephen Ostroff [3]
April 1, 2015
February 22, 2016
Barack Obama
22
Robert Califf
February 22, 2016
January 20, 2017
Barack Obama
–
Stephen Ostroff [3]
January 20, 2017
May 11, 2017
Donald Trump
23
Scott Gottlieb
May 11, 2017
April 5, 2019
Donald Trump
–
Norman Sharpless
April 5, 2019
November 1, 2019
Donald Trump
–
AdmiralBrett Giroir
November 6, 2019[4] [5]
December 17, 2019
Donald Trump
24
Stephen Hahn
December 17, 2019
January 20, 2021[6]
Donald Trump
–
Janet Woodcock
January 20, 2021[7]
February 17, 2022
Joe Biden
25[8]
Robert Califf
February 17, 2022[9]
present
Joe Biden
See also
References
Divisions Major acts Title 21 regulations and rules
Administrative law Federal journal Federal law
Commissioners Society and culture