Carol Luedtke & Luther Luedtke, Ph.D.
Honorary Alumni
Carol Luedtke, CLU’s first lady for 14 years, is an avid booster of the university. A gracious hostess, she generously opened her home to welcome the campus community, students, parents, regents, friends and dignitaries from around the globe. She represented CLU in a number of community organizations and served on campus committees including the Building and Grounds Committee and CLU Community Leaders Auction Gift Gathering Committee. A former English teacher, Carol enjoyed spending time reading to the children at CLU’s Early Learning Center.
Luther Luedtke, president of CLU for 14 years, left the university to become President and Chief Executive Officer of Education Development Center (EDC), a Newton, Mass., based $100 million nonprofit organization dedicated to improving education, health care and community development worldwide. “Luther has been so important in leading California Lutheran University since 1992,” said William Kane, Chair of the Board of Regents in announcing Luedtke’s resignation. “As the third longest serving president of any ELCA college, Luther has been a true leader to the university and to Lutheran higher education.” During Luedtke’s tenure, Kane noted, CLU has seen enrollment increase from 1,250 to over 2,000 undergraduates, a growth in the size and quality of faculty and facilities, the most successful fundraising drive in the university’s history ($93 million) and the addition of new endowed professorships and academic centers.
This past year has been especially exciting, he continued, with the groundbreaking of the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center and the hiring of 27 gifted faculty. “The accomplishments under Luther’s leadership have put CLU in an enviable position as we look to the future, and CLU has never been in a stronger academic and financial position than we are today.” California Lutheran University has a brilliant future, said Luedtke, noting that his departure is bittersweet. “I will miss the day-by-day building of that future and the hundreds of individuals, on and off campus, who have become confidants, benefactors and most of all friends. We will always remain deeply loyal and committed to CLU.”