Local Educator New Head of Cal Lutheran

Cal Lutheran University in Ventura County last week inaugurated longtime South Pasadena resident Luther S. Luedtke as its fifth president.

Taking his cue from President Clinton, the 49-year-old Luedtke urged his colleagues at the Thousand Oaks school to live by the motto: “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.” But, he quickly added, “Our calling is also not to stop thinking about yesterday and today.”

Three former Cal Lutheran presidents sat in the front row for the pageantry-laden ceremony Wednesday in Samuelson Chapel on campus, reinforcing Luedtke’s theme of continuity amid change. Or, as he put it, “minding the past, creating the future.”

“Our primary challenge today, as in the past, is fundamentally one of faith, imagination and courage,” Luedtke said.

Luedtke, a member of the USC faculty for 22 years, has been interim president since August, when the university’s governing board chose him to replace Jerry H. Miller, a theologian who served 11 years as president.

With his tortoise-shell glasses, mild blue eyes and unimposing stature, Luedtke looks more like a graduate student than a university president. Although he has immersed himself in budget and personnel matters, Luedtke reflects wistfully on his days as student, scholar and professor.

“I will continue to revere the time I have spent in a classroom,” Luedtke, former head of the journalism department at USC, said. “When I’m there, I wonder why I would ever be doing anything else. But I also have a penchant for organization and administration.”

The American literature and culture scholar admitted almost sheepishly that as an undergraduate, he enrolled in Minnesota’s Gustavus Adolphus College as an accounting student before switching to studies of English, German and history.

Luedtke is the author of two books, “Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Romance of the Orient” (1989), and “Making America: The Society and Culture of the United States” (1992). He also worked as director of the American Studies Research Center in India and was a Fulbright lecturer in Germany.

Luedtke has lived in South Pasadena since 1970. His wife, Carol, and daughter, Pia, 15, live in the family’s home there. Luedtke commutes for frequent visits from his Thousand Oaks apartment.

“I burn up the 118, 101 and 134 freeways constantly,” he said.

Carol Lindstrom Luedtke teaches literature at Westridge School in Pasadena. Luedtke’s daughter is a sophomore at Polytechnic School in Pasadena. His son, Pehr, 19, is a sophomore at Princeton University. The Luedtkes are active members of Trinity Lutheran congregation in Pasadena.

The new president is described on campus as energetic, enthusiastic and approachable, with a hands-on style that involves him in many facets of life at Cal Lutheran, a cozy campus of 110 full-time faculty members and 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students.

“His intelligence and the accomplishments behind him have won everyone’s trust,” said DeAnne Taylor, who chairs an association of administrators at the university. “He’s not overpowering and he doesn’t jump to conclusions. He seems to have a wonderful way of entertaining everyone’s interests and making sure they feel heard.”

A major goal of Luedtke’s tenure, he said, will be gaining Thousand Oaks’ approval for a proposed $70-million university expansion. In addition to fund raising, he must drum up community support for the development. The project includes an athletic complex, creative arts center and classrooms.

Luedtke also said he hopes to add new graduate programs, such as health management, educational administration and international business, which would be “compatible with both the social mission of the university and the changing economic times in Ventura County.”