Valedictorian of his high school class, he attended Gustavus Adolphus College with a National Merit Scholarship graduating summa cum laude in English, German, and history in 1965.

"[3] Beginning with a Fulbright grant and American Studies lectureship at the University of Kiel, Germany (1968-1969), Luedtke's teaching and research were weighted towards internationalism.

This included an appointment as Distinguished Fulbright Scholar and Director of the American Studies Research Centre in Hyderabad, India (1984-1985).

[8] At any time, EDC has some 1,500 research, design, and program staff in education, health, and workforce development working across the U.S. and more than twenty countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.

[9] Luedtke has chaired or served on the boards of numerous library, symphony, community service, philanthropic, professional, private equity, and financial service organizations including Thrivent Financial,[10] American Studies Association, Ojai Music Festival,[11] Jackson Memorial Library, Vesper Society,[12] and Harvard Global Education Innovation Initiative.