Donald Kennedy (August 18, 1931 – April 21, 2020) was an American scientist, public administrator, and academic.

He served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1977–1979), President of Stanford University (1980–1992), and Editor-in-Chief of Science (2000–2008).

[7][8] His research included the patterns of neural action in crayfish, demonstrating some of the connection principles among nerve cells that impose the sequences underlying a behavioral event.

In the next two-plus years Kennedy and the FDA dealt with issues such as the fallout from the attempt to ban saccharin, and the risks of antibiotic resistance in humans from agricultural antibiotic use[13][14] and worked on provisions of the proposed Drug Regulation Reform Act of 1978.

[17] In 1990 he received the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award at a ceremony in Chicago, Illinois.

[19] Over his tenure, Kennedy fostered the growth of the university's endowment to $2 billion, which was the fifth-largest in the United States.

[32][33] According to his Stanford biography, Kennedy's research interests related to "policy on such trans-boundary environmental problems as: major land-use changes; economically-driven alterations in agricultural practice; global climate change; beyond coal; and alternative energy sources".

[36] Kennedy had a stroke in 2015 and in 2018 moved to Gordon Manor, a residential care home in Redwood City, California.