UC Welcomes New Jewish Foundation Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies

After an extensive search, Mark A. Raider, PhD, has been appointed to be the department head and Jewish Foundation Endowed Chair of the Department of Judaic Studies in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. Raider is the former chair of the Department of Judaic Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He received his PhD in modern Jewish history from Brandeis University after graduating from UC-Santa Cruz with a BA in Judaic studies and Hebrew literature, with honors.

“I’m extremely pleased that we were successful in recruiting such an impressive faculty member,” says Karen Gould, PhD, Dean of McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. She notes that his leadership role at the University at Albany, as Chair of the Judaic Studies Department and the Founding Director of the Center for Jewish Studies is an “important indication of his multiple talents.”

"We are excited by the arrival of an innovative and energetic voice that will lead Judaic Studies into the 21st century,” says Judaic Studies Professor Steven Bowman, PhD. “We look forward to a renewed impact of this department on the university and within the Jewish community."

Besides chairing the department, as a professor of Judaic studies at UC, Raider will teach courses in such subjects as American Jewish and Zionist history. While at Albany, Raider developed courses such as “Hollywood and the Jews” and “The Emergence of Secular Jewish Identity and Culture.”

“He is a successful fundraiser and a serious and accomplished scholar,” says Dean Gould. She is looking forward to strengthening community partnerships with Raider, whom she also calls “a talented leader.”

Raider’s move to Cincinnati felt like coming home, he says, although he’s not been here before. Both native Midwesterners, he and his wife, Miriam B. Raider-Roth, PhD, have been pleased at the warm reception they have received. (Miriam Raider-Roth also joins UC as an associate professor in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services.)

“Every day there’s a knock on the door and someone with a basket of brownies or cookies,” he says. Their three children are making themselves at home and discovering all that Cincinnati has to offer.

And the Raider-Roth family has a lot to offer Cincinnati!