United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

**Dept. of Health and Human Services**

Established:	1953
Activated:	May 4, 1980
Secretary:	Michael O. Leavitt
Deputy Secretary:	Alex Azar
Surgeon General:	Richard Carmona
Budget:	Discretionary: $67.2 billion (2006) Mandatory: $573.5 billion (2006)
Employees:	67, 000 (2004)
Address:	200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201

The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Until 1979, there was one Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, uniting this department with the Department of Education, which is now headed by a separate Secretary of Education.

[edit] Chronological list

No.	Name	Term of Office	President(s) served under
1	Patricia Roberts Harris	August 3, 1979 - January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
2	Richard Schultz Schweiker	January 22, 1981 - February 3, 1983	Ronald Reagan
3	Margaret Heckler	March 9, 1983 - December 13, 1985	Ronald Reagan
4	Otis R. Bowen	December 13, 1985 - January 20, 1989	Ronald Reagan
5	Louis Wade Sullivan	March 1, 1989 - January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
6	Donna Edna Shalala	January 22, 1993 - January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
7	Tommy George Thompson	February 2, 2001 - January 26, 2005	George W. Bush
8	Michael Orkerlund Leavitt	January 26, 2005 – present	George W. Bush

Leaders of the United States Federal Executive Departments
Agriculture • Commerce • Defense • Education • Energy • Health and Human Services • Homeland Security • Housing and Urban Development • Interior • Justice • Labor • State • Transportation • Treasury • Veterans Affairs (Past department leaders: Commerce and Labor • Health, Education, and Welfare • Navy • Post Office • War)