The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.
Until 1979, there was one Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, uniting this department with the Department of Education, which is now headed by a separate Secretary of Education.
Secretaries of Health and Human Services
| Name |
Term of Office |
President(s) served under |
| Patricia Roberts Harris |
August 3, 1979 - January 20, 1981 |
Jimmy Carter |
| Richard Schultz Schweiker |
January 22, 1981 - February 3, 1983 |
Ronald Reagan |
| Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy Heckler |
March 9, 1983 - December 13, 1985 |
Ronald Reagan |
| Otis Ray Bowen |
December 13, 1985 - January 20, 1989 |
Ronald Reagan |
| Louis Wade Sullivan |
March 1, 1989 - January 20, 1993 |
George H. W. Bush |
| Donna Edna Shalala |
January 22, 1993 - January 20, 2001 |
Bill Clinton |
| Tommy George Thompson |
February 2, 2001 - January 26, 2005 |
George W. Bush |
| Michael Orkerlund Leavitt |
January 26, 2005 - present |
George W. Bush |
