Professional Summary
Dr. Mark A. Raider is professor of modern Jewish history in the Department of History (College of Arts & Sciences), director of the Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture (College of Education), and chair of the University's Israel Initiative Committee. He is past president of the Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning. He serves as visiting professor of American Jewish history at the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College.
Dr. Raider earned his BA at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1988 and his Master's and PhD degrees at Brandeis University in 1993 and 1996, respectively. He also studied at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before joining the University of Cincinnati, he was the founding director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York from 2000 to 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he served as director of the Posen Foundation Education Project.
Dr. Raider's articles have appeared in various anthologies and scholarly journals including the American Jewish Archives Journal, American Jewish History, CCAR Journal, Iyunim betkumat yisrael, Jewish Social Studies, Journal of Israeli History, and elsewhere.
Dr. Raider’s books are An Equal Share of Freedom: American Jews, Zionism, and World War I, with Zohar Segev and Gary P. Zola (University of Cincinnati Press, 2024); New Perspectives in American Jewish History: A Documentary Tribute to Jonathan D. Sarna, with Gary P. Zola (Brandeis University Press, 2021); The Essential Hayim Greenberg: Essays and Addresses on Jewish Culture, Socialism, and Zionism (University of Alabama Press, 2017); Nahum Goldmann: Statesman Without a State (State University of New York Press, 2009); American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise, with Shulamit Reinharz (Brandeis University Press, 2005); The Plough Woman: Records of the Pioneer Women of Palestine. A Critical Edition, with Miriam B. Raider-Roth (Brandeis University Press, 2002); The Emergence of American Zionism (New York University Press, 1998); and Abba Hillel Silver and American Zionism, with Jonathan D. Sarna and Ronald W. Zweig (Frank Cass, 1997). He completed a book-length history of the American Jewish experience for the prize-winning second edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica (vol. 20, 2006).
Dr. Raider is currently working on two book projects. The Israeli Hero in the American Mind examines American society’s evolving perception of the archetype of the Jewish hero – from the latter’s biblical significance to its modern-day complexity – against the backdrop of the rise of Zionism and Israel. America’s Rabbi: Stephen S. Wise is a biographical study of one of the twentieth century’s most important American Jewish and Zionist leaders. Closely associated with Louis D. Brandeis, Woodrow Wilson, Felix Frankfurter, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stephen S. Wise (1874-1949) played a key role in American and world Jewish affairs as well as the founding of the State of Israel.
Dr. Raider teaches courses on modern Jewish history, American Jewish history, U.S. history, American religious history, American cultural history, pedagogy, and research methods.
Research Support
Grant: #TOG20911 Investigators:Raider, Mark 08-01-2025 -07-31-2028 Israel Institute Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship Role:PI 223014.00 Hold Level:Non Profit
Contact Information
Academic - Department of History