Dr. Luther Luedtke

Luther S. Luedtke is president and chief executive officer of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), a global nonprofit organization that develops programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic opportunity. EDC works with public-sector and private partners to improve education, health promotion and care, workforce preparation, communications technologies, and civic engagement. EDC conducts 350 projects in 35 countries around the world.

Prior to coming to EDC, Luedtke was President of California Lutheran University (1992-2006) and professor and administrator in English, American Studies, and Journalism at the University of Southern California (1970-1992). At various times, Luedtke has been 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). He has consulted widely for the U.S. Department of Education, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, and other private and governmental bodies and is widely published in the fields of American literature and history and international relations.

Luedtke received a bachelor of arts from Gustavus Adolphus College and a doctorate in American civilization from Brown University.