Director of the National Institutes of Health

Director of the National Institutes of Health
Incumbent Matthew Memoli Acting   since January 22, 2025
Appointer	The President
Formation	August 1887
First holder	Joseph J. Kinyoun
Website	Official website

In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency responsible for medical research. The director of the National Institutes of Health plays an active role in shaping the agency's activities and outlook. The director is responsible for providing leadership to the institutes and for constantly identifying needs and opportunities, especially for efforts that involve multiple institutes. ^[1] The NIH director is responsible for advising the U.S. president on their annual budget request to Congress on the basis of extensive discussions with the institute directors. ^[1]

History

The position of the NIH Director became presidentially appointed with the passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971 and Senate confirmed with the National Cancer Act Amendments of 1974.  Prior to 1971, all NIH Directors were appointed by the Surgeon General, with the exception of Robert Q. Marston, who was appointed by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Acting Directors are selected by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and hold the position until the President nominates a new director who is confirmed by the Senate. ^[2]

List of directors

Unnumbered, colored rows indicate acting directors.

No.	Portrait	Name	Term in office	Appointed by	Notes
1		Joseph J. Kinyoun	August 1887 - April 30, 1899	John B. Hamilton	Kinyoun was appointed the first director of the U.S. Hygienic Laboratory by the Surgeon General in 1887.
2		Milton J. Rosenau	May 1, 1899 - September 30, 1909	Walter Wyman
3		John F. Anderson	October 1, 1909 - November 19, 1915	Walter Wyman
4		George W. McCoy	November 20, 1915 - January 31, 1937	Rupert Blue	The U.S. Hygienic Laboratory was renamed the National Institute of Health in 1930 under the Ransdell Act. [3]
5		Lewis Ryers Thompson	February 1, 1937 - January 31, 1942	Thomas Parran
6		Rolla Dyer	February 1, 1942 - September 30, 1950	Thomas Parran	The National Institute of Health was renamed the National Institutes of Health in 1948 as part of reorganization that was authorized under the National Heart Act. [4]
7		William H. Sebrell Jr.	October 1, 1950 - July 31, 1955	Leonard A. Scheele
8		James A. Shannon	August 1, 1955 - August 31, 1968	Leonard A. Scheele
9		Robert Q. Marston	September 1, 1968 - January 21, 1973	Wilbur J. Cohen	With the approval of President Johnson, Marston was appointed NIH director by HEW secretary Wilbur J. Cohen. Marston was head of another HEW department at the time of the appointment. [5] Starting in 1971, directors became presidential appointees serving at the pleasure of the commander in chief as a result of the passage of the National Cancer Act. [6]
–		John F. Sherman	January 21, 1973 - May 28, 1973	Elliot L. Richardson	NIH deputy director [7]
10		Robert Stone	May 29, 1973 - January 31, 1975	Richard Nixon
–		Ronald W. Lamont-Havers	February 1, 1975 - June 30, 1975	Caspar Weinberger	NIH deputy director [8]
11		Donald S. Fredrickson	July 1, 1975 - June 30, 1981	Jimmy Carter
–		Thomas E. Malone	July 1, 1981 - April 28, 1982	Richard S. Schweiker	NIH deputy director [9]
12		James Wyngaarden	April 29, 1982 - July 31, 1989	Ronald Reagan	[10]
–		William F. Raub	August 1, 1989 - April 8, 1991	Louis Wade Sullivan	NIH deputy director [11] [12]
13		Bernadine Healy	April 8, 1991 - June 30, 1993	George H.W. Bush	[13]
–		Ruth L. Kirschstein	July 1, 1993 - November 22, 1993	Donna Shalala	NIH deputy director [14]
14		Harold E. Varmus	November 23, 1993 - December 31, 1999	Bill Clinton	[15]
–		Ruth L. Kirschstein	January 1, 2000 - May 1, 2002	Donna Shalala	NIH deputy director [14]
15		Elias Zerhouni	May 2, 2002 - October 31, 2008	George W. Bush	[16] [17] [18]
–		Raynard S. Kington	November 1, 2008 - August 16, 2009	Michael O. Leavitt	NIH deputy director [19]
16		Francis Collins	August 17, 2009 - December 19, 2021	Barack Obama	[20] [21] [22]
–		Lawrence A. Tabak	December 20, 2021 - November 8, 2023	Xavier Becerra	NIH principal deputy director [23]
17		Monica Bertagnolli	November 9, 2023 – January 17, 2025	Joe Biden	[24] [25]
–		Matthew Memoli	January 22, 2025 – Present	Dorothy Fink	Director of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID) Clinical Studies Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [26]

References

Citations

1. National Institutes of Health 2014.
2. National Institutes of Health 2015.
3. "George Walter McCoy, M.D." The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
4. "New Institutes". A Short History of the National Institutes of Health. National Institutes of Health.
5. "Robert Q. Marston To Head NIH". Science . 161 (3839): 345. July 26, 1968. doi:10.1126/science.161.3839.34.
6. "NIH Directors". The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
7. "John F. Sherman, Ph.D." The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
8. "Ronald W. Lamont-Havers, M.D." The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
9. "Thomas E. Malone, Ph.D." The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
10. "James B. Wyngaarden, M.D." National Institutes of Health.
11. "William F. Raub, Ph.D." The NIH Almanac. National Institutes of Health.
12. "William F. Raub, PH.D." Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
13. "Bernadine Healy, M.D." NIH.
14. "Ruth Kirschstein, M.D." NIH.
15. "Harold E. Varmus, M.D." NIH.
16. "Minutes of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research" (PDF). National Advisory Council for Nursing Research. May 21, 2002.
17. "Elias A. Zerhouni to End Tenure as Director of the National Institutes of Health". NIH. September 1, 2008.
18. "Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D." NIH.
19. "Raynard S. Kington, M.D." NIH.
20. "Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Sworn in as NIH Director". NIH. August 17, 2009.
21. "Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health". NIH. October 5, 2021.
22. "Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D." NIH.
23. "Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D." NIH.
24. "Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D." NIH.
25. "Statement from Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., on ending her tenure as NIH director". NIH. January 14, 2025.
26. "NIAID's Memoli Appointed NIH Acting Director". NIH Record . February 14, 2025.

Bibliography

• "NIH Leadership". National Institutes of Health . 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2022-04-24. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• "NIH Directors". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2022-01-28. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Institutes of Health.