Being a Jewish child, she was hidden and protected by the catholic Zwanikken family of Laren.
The father of the house, Cornelis Zwanikken worked at the municipality department of Social Affairs.
[3][4] She started her career teaching maths at a high school in Melbourne.
In 1993 she was named Monash's University 'Supervisor of the Year' for her talent in supervising postgraduate students.
Leder was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her "significant service to higher education, and to the Jewish community of Victoria".