Judge Robert Rader JD ‘85 receives Patriot Award from U.S. Secretary of Defense

October 24, 2019

Judge Robert Rader JD ‘85 has received the Patriot Award from the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) .

Rader is the chief district court judge for the 10th Judicial District in Wake County. He was appointed to the courts by former Gov. Jim Hunt in 1994 and has served as a chief district court judge since 2007. He was re-elected in November 2016.

The Patriot Award was given to Rader for his contributions to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in the U.S. National Guard and Reserve force, according to a press release. Patriot Award recipients are nominated by fellow Reservists or Guardists.

Radar was instrumental in organizing the 50th anniversary of the establishment of North Carolina’s District Court system in 2016, according to an article written by Russell Rawlings of the North Carolina Bar Association.

“I have always had a bit of an interest in history and historic preservation,” Rader said at the time. “And I really am dedicated to the court system.”

His commitment to historic preservation is also demonstrated by his involvement as a founding member of the Yates Mill Associates, Inc., a private non-profit corporation that preserved Wake County’s last surviving grist mill (circa 1756) and established Historic Yates Mill County Park. He is also a former chair of the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission and the Raleigh Historic Properties Commission.

Radar was heavily involved in the planning and implementation of the new Wake County Justice Center.

“That whole planning process took many years,” Rader told Rawlings. “When Judge Joyce Hamilton was still chief judge, she asked me to take a role in the construction planning and design process, which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We managed to complete the 577,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art building months ahead of schedule and 30 million dollars below budget. From the very beginning we felt as though we needed to devote a significant amount of time on the front end to the planning and design process to make the Justice Center as functional as we could.”