Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler Named Dean of UCSF School of Medicine

Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner and dean of the Yale School of Medicine, on Monday was named the new dean of the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine effective Sept. 1, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24). Kessler, who also was named vice chancellor for medical affairs at UCSF, succeeds Dr. Haile Debas (UCSF release, 6/23). Kessler has served as dean of Yale's medical school since 1997, and he served as FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997 under the Bush and Clinton administrations. As the longest-serving FDA commissioner in history, Kessler increased the speed of the drug approval process and advocated for FDA regulation of tobacco products (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24). Kessler received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College, his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School (UCSF release, 6/23). He also will serve as an attending pediatrician at UCSF Children's Hospital (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24). UCSF Chancellor Dr. J. Michael Bishop said that Kessler's "extensive experience in the leadership of both public and private institutions will serve UCSF well" (UCSF release, 6/23).