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As
Acting Commissioner of the FDA, the nation’s principal consumer protection
agency, Dr. Crawford ensures the safety and protection of the public’s
health. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has said, “Lester
Crawford has devoted his career to promoting safer products for the public,
and he brings to the FDA valuable experience and leadership skills. With his
help, the FDA will continue to build on its successes in ensuring the safety
of foods, drugs, and medical products for all Americans.”
Previously, Dr. Crawford was Chair of the Department of Physiology-Pharmacology at the University of Georgia, Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) and Deputy Commissioner of FDA. From 1997-2002, he was Director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University and at Virginia Tech, where it moved in 2001.
Dr. Crawford has played major roles in mandatory nutrition labeling, the formation of the World Trade Organization and the control of chemical and microbiological contaminants of food. He has been an advisor to the World Health Organization of the United Nations for much of his career.
Dr. Crawford is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK) and a Fellow of the International Society of Food Science and Technology. In 1984, he was inducted into the French Academy of Veterinary Medicine. In 1991, he received the Wooldridge Award, the British Veterinary Association’s highest award.
Dr. Crawford received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University, his PhD in pharmacology from the University of Georgia, and his Honorary Doctorate (MDV) from Budapest University.
He has been married since 1963 to Catherine Walker of Birmingham, Alabama. They have two daughters, Leigh and Mary, and four grandchildren.