In 1965, Dr. Luedtke received a bachelor of arts summa cum laude in English from Gustavus Adolphus College and in 1971 received his Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. He spent two decades at the University of Southern California, where he was Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in English, Chair of American Studies, and Director of the School of Journalism. He spent 14 years as President of California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks, California. In 2005 he became president and chief executive officer of Education Development Center (EDC), an international research and development organization. Dr. Luedtke was a Fulbright Lecturer in Germany, a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar and Director of the American Studies Research Centre in India, and a Resident Scholar with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he worked as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.