United States Commissioner of Food and Drugs
Incumbent
Dr. Robert Califf
since February 17, 2022
Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
Reports toSecretary of Health and Human Services
Term lengthNo fixed term

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
– Admiral
Brett 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

  1. ^ "How the FDA's food division fails to regulate health and safety hazards". politico.com. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  2. ^ Campbell had previously served as Commissioner
  3. ^ a b "Meet Stephen Ostroff, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  4. ^ ADM Brett P. Giroir
  5. ^ McGinley, Laurie (2019-11-01). "Trump announces plan to nominate Texas cancer doctor to run FDA". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  6. ^ Commissioner, Office of the (2021-01-20). "Stephen Hahn | FDA". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  7. ^ "Janet Woodcock, MD, Appointed as Acting FDA Commissioner". HCPLive. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  8. ^ Califf had previously served as Commissioner
  9. ^ "Robert M. Califf M.D., MACC". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. February 17, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
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