Gary Mays serves as the CDER Executive Officer and Acting Director of CDER's Office of Management. He leads the center’s administrative management operations, which includes more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $1 billion, comprised of a mix of congressional appropriations and multiple user fee programs. Under Mays’ leadership, the CDER Office of Management staff manages all aspects of: ethics management, human capital management, financial management (including budget formulation, user-fee collection, and budget execution), acquisition management, employee safety, and facilities management.
Before joining FDA, Mays worked in leadership at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). For the past three years, he served as NIAID’s director of strategic planning, initiative development, and analysis. He was responsible for long-range science and resource planning, asset management, and program evaluations. Before that, Mays held the positions of associate director of NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research and senior program manager with the Malaria Vaccine Development Branch. In these roles, he led organizational changes to streamline functions, implement new financial management processes, and achieve breakthrough efficiencies in support of clinical research.
Mays worked in the defense, energy, and telecommunications industries in management capacities prior to federal service. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration and economics from James Madison University, a master’s in business administration from Virginia Tech, and is a certified Project Management Professional.
