David Kessler

David A. Kessler, MD has had an accomplished career in medicine, government, and now academics. He currently serves as the Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for medical affairs at the University of California, San Francisco, a position he has held since September, 2003. Prior to accepting his role at UCSF, Dr. Kessler began his career in academics as the Dean of the Yale University School of Medicine from 1997 to 2003.

In November of 1990, Dr. Kessler was asked by then President George Bush to serve as commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration. He accepted the high honor and was later reappointed by President Clinton.
As Commissioner of the FDA, Kessler acted to speed approval of effective new drugs and placed high priority on getting promising therapies, for serious and life-threatening diseases, to patients as quickly as possible. Under his direction, the FDA announced a number of new programs, including: the regulation of the marketing and sale of tobacco products to children; nutrition labeling for food; user fees for drugs and biologics; preventive controls to improve food safety; measures to strengthen the nation's blood supply; and the MEDWatch program for reporting adverse events and product problems. In his position he emphasized strong law enforcement and created an Office of Criminal Investigation within the agency. His work for the FDA was widely praised by such credited and respected sources as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News.

Dr. Kessler has a wide range of experience in research, clinical medicine, education, administration and the law. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College. He received his JD degree from The University of Chicago Law School and his MD degree from Harvard Medical School. In 1986, he earned an Advanced Professional Certificate from the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration.

From 1984 until his FDA appointment, he was the medical director of the Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, where he held technical appointments in the Department of Pediatrics and in the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine. During this time, Dr. Kessler also held a position teaching food and drug law at the Columbia University School of Law.

Dr. Kessler has published a book, A Question of Intent, in addition to numerous articles in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and other major medical journals. He serves on the board of various organizations including the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where he is chairman of the board, Doctors of the World, National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. His many honors have included the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor, the American Heart Association's National Public Affairs Special Recognition Award, the American Federation for AIDS Research, Sheldon W. Andelson Public Policy Achievement Award, the American Academy of Pediatrics Excellence in Public Service Award, and the March of Dimes Franklin Delano Roosevelt Leadership Award.