Montgomery County’s Earl Stoddard Named Acting Maryland Emergency Management Secretary

Dr. Earl Stoddard, one of Montgomery County’s three assistant chief administrative officers, will become Maryland’s acting Secretary of Emergency Management on Dec. 9, Gov. Wes Moore announced Thursday, as MarylandFeed reported.

Stoddard will succeed Secretary Russell Strickland, who retires Dec. 8 after a 50-year public safety career, according to the governor’s office. Moore plans to nominate Stoddard to the Maryland State Senate for confirmation during the 2027 legislative session.

“Dr. Earl Stoddard is a proven leader with an exceptional background in emergency management and public health,” Moore said in the announcement.

His Montgomery County career

• Now: one of three assistant chief administrative officers under Chief Administrative Officer Richard Madaleno, helping oversee the operations and performance of county government
• Before that: director of the county Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security
• Earlier: program administrator for public health emergency preparedness and response in the county Department of Health and Human Services

Before joining the county, Stoddard worked at the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Delaware, a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the governor’s office said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stoddard was one of the county’s regular voices on its response, briefing reporters on hospital capacity and new variants and on the county’s supply of free test kits and masks, Bethesda Magazine reported. In 2022, he also answered Moderately MOCO’s questions about how the county measured COVID-19 transmission.

The same announcement names another Montgomery County alum: Deputy Secretary Adam Ortiz, a former director of the county Department of Environmental Protection, will become acting Secretary of the Environment on Jan. 1, 2027, after Secretary Serena McIlwain concludes her tenure Dec. 31.

Read the governor’s full announcement on MarylandFeed.

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