--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Tom Frieden by Michael Bloomberg: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172bc27e2e61f2fa/6987eb2c524fc0041adf03ac/tom-frieden-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 15, 2015 # Tom Frieden by Michael Bloomberg  ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 05: Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden addresses the media on the Ebola case in the U.S. at the Tom Harkin Global Communications Center on October 5, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. The first confirmed Ebola virus patient in the United States was staying with family members at The Ivy Apartment complex before being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. State and local officials are working with federal officials to monitor other individuals that had contact with the confirmed patient. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 05: Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden addresses the media on the Ebola case in the U.S. at the Tom Harkin Global Communications Center on October 5, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. The first confirmed Ebola virus patient in the United States was staying with family members at The Ivy Apartment complex before being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. State and local officials are working with federal officials to monitor other individuals that had contact with the confirmed patient. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)Kevin C. Cox—Getty Images Hiring Tom Frieden was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made—and one of the best decisions President Obama has made. Tom has the single most important quality that you want in a public servant: fearlessness. He is unafraid of big ideas, powerful interest groups or impossible challenges, and that’s why he has become the most influential leader in American public health since C. Everett Koop. In New York City, Tom spearheaded our push to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, which has been copied around the world. He led our efforts to ban trans fats and place calorie counts on the menus of chain restaurants, an idea that Congress later brought to the whole country. And as the head of the Centers for Disease Control, he helped keep the country safe from last year’s Ebola outbreak while also tamping down the political hysteria surrounding the issue. Tom has spent his career finding new ways to save lives, and we are lucky to have him in public service. _Bloomberg is the CEO of Bloomberg LP and a former New York City mayor_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3823245/tom-frieden-2015-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3823245/tom-frieden-2015-time-100/"},"headline":"Tom Frieden","datePublished":"2015-04-15T17:26:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:41.059Z","description":"Remedy for disease and fear","url":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3823245/tom-frieden-2015-time-100/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172bc27e2e61f2fa/6987eb2c524fc0041adf03ac/tom-frieden-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt172bc27e2e61f2fa/6987eb2c524fc0041adf03ac/tom-frieden-time-100-2015-leaders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2015-time-100/3823245/tom-frieden-2015-time-100/","name":"Tom Frieden"}}]}] ```