Leslie Ford Weber to oversee Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus

Johns Hopkins University has appointed Leslie Ford Weber director of the Montgomery County Campus and of Government & Community Affairs for Montgomery County. Weber had been serving as the interim executive director of the Montgomery County Campus since October 2013 and director of Government and Community Affairs for Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, since July 2011.

Image caption: Leslie Ford Weber

"I am greatly enjoying this new opportunity with Johns Hopkins, and looking forward to continuing to strengthen its presence in Montgomery County," Weber said.

In her new role, Weber will oversee the Montgomery County Campus and represent both the university and the health system in their interactions with county elected officials, businesses, and other external organizations. She will provide strategic direction in the areas of administrative affairs, budget and finance, and facilities management. She will continue to work closely with the university's Office of Government and Community Affairs to build and maintain strong relationships on behalf of Johns Hopkins and its other entities operating in Montgomery County.

Weber previously held roles as executive vice president of the Suburban Hospital Foundation and senior vice president of government and community relations for Suburban Hospital. She has more than 25 years of experience in higher education.

Weber is active in the Montgomery County community. She is currently serving as vice chair of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce's Economic Development Committee, secretary of the Montgomery Business Development Corp., and treasurer of Montgomery Women. She is a past chairwoman of the Greater Bethesda–Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce and graduated from Leadership Montgomery's core program in 2007.

Weber replaces Elaine Amir at the university's Montgomery County Campus. Amir retired in September 2013.

Since joining the Montgomery County Campus in her interim role, Weber has overseen the addition of several new tenants to the campus community, many of which relocated from the William E. Hanna Jr. Innovation Center, one of Montgomery County's incubators. With the incubator changing its focus to cybersecurity, several companies have chosen to join the innovative biosciences campus community at JHU.