Rank
5
Anthony Fauci
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attends a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, April 10, 2020. President Donald Trump said hell introduce on Tuesday a council of doctors and business people who will advise his government on how to reopen the economy following the coronavirus outbreak. Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesKevin Dietsch—UPI/Bloomberg/Getty Images
- TitleDirector
- AffiliationNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
In 36 years as director of NIAID, Fauci has guided the U.S. response to outbreaks from AIDS to Zika. After mixed signals and inaction initially handicapped the federal reaction to the coronavirus, Fauci emerged as the administration’s most trusted authority figure. He has assuaged the public by speaking plainly, frequently, and honestly in briefings. And his candor about mistakes—“It’s a failing, let’s admit it,” he told Congress of the government’s testing efforts—has helped prompt the White House to course-correct.