Eric W. Rader

Eric W. Rader has been president and chief negotiator of the Henry Ford Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1650, since 2022. He’s taught political science full time at Henry Ford since 2004 and was Faculty Senate chair from 2014-2016.  

Rader earned his doctoral degree in political science from Wayne State University in 2004. He earned his master’s degree in political science from Wayne State in 1997 and his bachelor’s degree in political science from Eastern Michigan University in 1992. He helped form the Graduate Employees’ Organizing Committee, AFT Local 6123, at Wayne State in 1998. 

Rader was elected as an AFT vice president at the 2026 convention. He served as co-chair of the AFT’s Higher Education Program and Policy Council from 2024-2026 and has been a member of the PPC since 2021. He has been a member of the AFT’s Higher Education AI Task Force, National Organizing Committee, Civil and Human Rights Committee and the LGBTQIA+ Task Force. 

In June 2026, Rader was elected as the first AFT Michigan executive vice president of higher education. He was an AFT Michigan vice president from 2022-2026.  Rader serves as chair of the AFT Michigan Human Rights Committee and AFT Michigan’s Queer Caucus.

Rader has been active in the Michigan AFL-CIO and Metro Detroit AFL-CIO for many years and has been a member of the State Central Committee of the Michigan Democratic Party since 2019. He is a past president of the Dearborn Rotary Club and a past chair of the Dearborn Rotary Foundation. He serves as an ex-officio member of the Henry Ford College Foundation board of directors. From 2002-2004, Rader served on the policy staff of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, focusing on education policy. Rader is a native of Springfield, Ohio.