Director
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Full Bio

John Howard is the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Howard was first appointed NIOSH Director in 2002 during the George W. Bush Administration and served in that position until 2008. In 2009, Dr. Howard worked as a consultant with the US-Afghanistan Health Initiative. In September of 2009, Dr. Howard was again appointed NIOSH Director, and was reappointed for a third six-year term in 2015 and a fourth six-year term in 2021. Prior to his appointments as NIOSH Director and WTC Health Program Administrator, Dr. Howard served as Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the State of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 1991 through 2002. Dr. Howard earned a Doctor of Medicine from Loyola University of Chicago; a Master of Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health; a Doctor of Law from the University of California at Los Angeles; and a Master of Law in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation, and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, both degrees from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Howard is board-certified in internal medicine and occupational medicine. He is admitted to the practice of medicine and law in the State of California and in the District of Columbia, and he is a member U.S. Supreme Court bar. He has written numerous articles on occupational health, policy and law.