Linda L. Robertson, a former senior U.S. Treasury official who has spent more than 25 years working on federal legislative, taxation and budget issues in both government and private sector positions, has been appointed the university's vice president of government, community and public affairs.

Robertson will arrive on campus Sept. 3 to assume this new position, created to strengthen Johns Hopkins' relationships with neighboring communities; with local, state and federal governments; and with broader public audiences nationally and internationally.

Linda L. Robertson

"The university and the communities within which it resides depend enormously on each other," said William R. Brody, president of the university. "I believe very strongly, for instance, that Johns Hopkins' success is tied inextricably to Baltimore's, and vice versa.

"Working closely with other members of the senior administration of the university and of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Ms. Robertson will work to enhance our strong ties with our neighbors, and with civic leaders and elected and appointed officials in Baltimore and other communities where Johns Hopkins has a presence," Brody said. "More broadly, she will also work to strengthen relationships with all those who have a stake in the good work of Johns Hopkins."

Robertson will bring a strategic focus to the university's relationships with its neighbors and other institutions, Brody said. She will have responsibility for the government and community relations staff throughout the university and in Johns Hopkins Medicine, and for the communications and public affairs staff in the central administration.

"The creation of this office signifies the value and extreme importance the university places on its role in the community and its role within Baltimore and the state of Maryland," Robertson said. "In addition to its central missions of teaching, research and patient care, Johns Hopkins has made a large commitment to and has a central role in the economic development of the communities where its faculty, staff and students work."

Robertson spent eight years at the Treasury Department, working for three secretaries: Lloyd Bentsen, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. She joined the department in 1993 as a deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs, rising to assistant secretary for legislative and public liaison and then senior adviser to the secretary. She led the Clinton administration's efforts to replenish the International Monetary Fund, negotiated U.S. funding for Third World debt relief, led the effort to enact the first overhaul of federal financial services industry law in 60 years and coordinated Treasury's efforts to win congressional approval of a restructuring of the Internal Revenue Service.

She won the department's highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award, traditionally reserved for the secretary and deputy secretary. In 1999, she received the Ida B. Well-Barnett Achievement Award, one of six awards given to women leaders throughout the federal government for exceptional service.

At other times in her career, Robertson has worked as a House of Representatives staff member and as a lobbyist focused on tax, energy, technology, finance and corporate issues. After leaving the Treasury Department, she was vice president and general manager of federal government affairs for Enron Corp. and, since February, has been of counsel at the law firm of Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky.

She is a 1976 graduate of Southern Illinois University, and earned a law degree at the University of Tulsa in 1979. She also received a master of law degree in taxation from Georgetown University in 1986.