The 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 with the advice and consent of 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.
| No. | Name | Portrait | Took Office | Left Office | President served under | Notable for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvey Washington Wiley, M.D. | January 1, 1907 | March 15, 1912 | Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft | Chemist; advocacy of the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906; subsequent work at Good Housekeeping Institute laboratories | |
| 2 | Carl L. Alsberg M.D. | December 16, 1912 | July 15, 1921 | William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding | ||
| 3 | Walter Gilbert Campbell | 7/16/1921 | 6/30/1924 | Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge | ||
| 4 | Charles Albert Browne, Jr. | 7/1/1924 | 6/30/1927 | Calvin Coolidge | ||
| 3[1] | Walter Gilbert Campbell | 7/1/1927 | 4/30/1944 | Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||
| 5 | Paul B. Dunbar, Ph.D. | 5/6/1944 | 5/31/1951 | Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman | ||
| 6 | Charles W. Crawford | 6/1/1951 | 7/31/1954 | Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||
| 7 | George P. Larrick | 8/12/1954 | 12/27/1965 | Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
| 8 | James Lee Goddard, M.D. | 1/17/1966 | 7/1/1968 | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
| 9 | Herbert Leonard Ley, Jr., M.D. | 7/1/1968 | 12/12/1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon | ||
| 10 | Charles C. Edwards, M.D. | 12/13/1969 | 3/15/1973 | Richard M. Nixon | ||
| 11 | Alexander Mackay Schmidt, M.D. | 7/20/1973 | 11/30/1976 | Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford | ||
| 12 | Donald Kennedy, Ph.D. | 4/4/1977 | 6/30/1979 | Jimmy Carter | ||
| 13 | Jere Edwin Goyan, Ph.D. | 10/21/1979 | 1/20/1981 | Jimmy Carter | ||
| 14 | Arthur Hull Hayes Jr., M.D. | 4/13/1981 | 9/11/1983 | Ronald Reagan | ||
| 15 | Frank Edward Young, M.D., Ph.D. | 7/15/1984 | 12/17/1989 | Ronald Reagan | ||
| 16 | David Aaron Kessler, M.D. | 11/8/1990 | 2/28/1997 | George H. W. Bush | ||
| 17 | Jane Ellen Henney, M.D. | 1/17/99 | 1/19/2001 | Bill Clinton | ||
| 18 | Mark Barr McClellan, M.D., Ph.D | 11/14/2002 | 3/26/2004 | George W. Bush | ||
| 19 | Lester Mills Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D. | 7/18/2005 | 9/23/2005 | George W. Bush | ||
| 20 | Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D. | 12/13/2006 | 1/20/2009 | George W. Bush | ||
| 21 | Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. | 5/22/2009 | present | Barack Obama |
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