director of the national institutes of health director of the national institutes of health the director of the national institutes of health (nih) 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. 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. director of thenational institutes of healthincumbentlawrence a. tabakacting since december 20, 2021appointerthe presidentformationaugust 1887first holderjoseph j. kinyounwebsiteofficial website 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. list of directors unnumbered, colored rows indicate acting directors. previous directors no.portraitnameterm in officeappointed by 1 joseph j. kinyoun august 1887 - april 30, 1899 john b. hamilton 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 5 lewis ryers thompson february 1, 1937 - january 31, 1942 thomas parran 6 rolla dyer february 1, 1942 - september 30, 1950 thomas parran 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 – john f. sherman january 21, 1973 - may 28, 1973 elliot l. richardson 10 robert stone may 29, 1973 - january 31, 1975 richard nixon – ronald w. lamont-havers february 1, 1975 - june 30, 1975 caspar weinberger 11 donald s. fredrickson july 1, 1975 - june 30, 1981 jimmy carter – thomas e. malone july 1, 1981 - april 28, 1982 richard s. schweiker 12 james wyngaarden april 29, 1982 - july 31, 1989 ronald reagan – william f. raub august 1, 1989 - april 8, 1991 louis wade sullivan 13 bernadine healy april 8, 1991 - june 30, 1993 george h.w. bush – ruth l. kirschstein july 1, 1993 - november 22, 1993 donna shalala 14 harold e. varmus november 23, 1993 - december 31, 1999 bill clinton – ruth l. kirschstein january 1, 2000 - may 2, 2002 donna shalala 15 elias zerhouni may 3, 2002 - october 31, 2008 george w. bush – raynard s. kington november 1, 2008 - august 16, 2009 michael o. leavitt 16 francis collins august 17, 2009 - december 19, 2021 barack obama – lawrence a. tabak december 20, 2021 - incumbent alex azar