She is professor emerita in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, where she has also been Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Rudder has also been Executive Director of the American Political Science Association, and Chief of Staff to Representative Wyche Fowler.
In 1977, she became a legislative assistant to Representative Wyche Fowler, and from 1978 to 1981 Rudder served as his chief of staff.
[1] From 2004 to 2008, she was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in George Mason University's School of Public Policy.
[1] She has also published reports and articles on smoking and tobacco regulation, and the committee system in the United States Congress.