Michael Taylor, JDMichael Taylor is Research Professor in the Department of Health Policy. Contact Professor Taylor at:
Michael Taylor began his career at the Food and Drug Administration in 1976, as a staff attorney, and, after a decade in private law practice, returned to the FDA in 1991 as Deputy Commissioner for Policy. Following his departure from the FDA in 1994, Professor Taylor served as Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Corp.; and Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, where he focused on food safety as a global health concern and the impact of U.S. agricultural, trade, and development policies on poverty and hunger reduction in Africa. Since joining SPHHS in 2007, Professor Taylor has promoted efforts to strengthen the FDA, especially by enhancing the agency's authority, resources and management structure. "No federal agency touches as many lives as intimately as the FDA, or works on a wider range of challenging public health policy issues," says Mr. Taylor. "The goal of my research and teaching is to bring these issues to life and equip students with a framework for understanding and analyzing them." In recent years, he has also directed his longstanding interest in food systems and problems of food security to agriculture-led economic growth in rural Africa. He remains a Senior Fellow with the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, where he works with senior U.S. and African leaders to identify policies and programs to support the continent's own efforts to build sustainable solutions to its rural poverty and hunger challenges. EducationBachelor of Arts (Political science), Davidson College, 1971 TeachingPubH 209: Policymaking at the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health Policy ResearchProfessor Taylor's research focuses on the policy, resource, and institutional issues that affect the ability of public health agencies to carry out their missions, with a particular emphasis on the FDA, the CDC and the ways in which federal, state, and local public health agencies interact. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, he explores opportunities to improve the nation's food safety information infrastructure, strengthen state and local roles in food safety, and foster risk-based resource allocation to better prevent foodborne illness. Community ServiceProfessor Taylor chairs the Steering Committee of the Food Safety Research Consortium, a collaboration among university and think tank partners to reduce the risk of foodborne illness in the United States. He is also a member of the National Academy of Science's Committee on Environmental Decision-Making Under Uncertainty and serves on the board of the Alliance to End Hunger. In 2002, Professor Taylor earned the FDA's Distinguished Alumni Award. DepartmentsPublications |
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