Luther S. Luedtke is president and chief executive officer of EDC and serves on EDC’s board of trustees. In addition, he leads the internal policymaking management council, which directs the organization’s major programmatic and business activities.
Since joining EDC in 2006, Luedtke has led EDC’s organization-wide strategic planning process, overseeing development of its new management structure and three programmatic divisions of work. 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.