A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dr. David J. Luke worked as a Certified Public Accountant after graduating from Grand Valley State University before returning to higher education to study sociology at the University of Kentucky. Luke has worked in various roles at universities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, where his research, broadly on multiracial organizations, informs his work.

Luke's scholarship focuses primarily on understanding racial diversity in higher education. In his forthcoming book with Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, provisionally titled, Pursuing a Critical Mass: Affirmative Action and Black Student Success at HWCUs, he has done a mixed-method cross-national study on diversity initiatives and programs at three universities (two in the U.S. and one in Canada), where he looked at the impact of these initiatives on black student enrollments and completions at the universities. State context and restrictive legislation (e.g. bans on affirmative action) had a negative impact, while desegregation mandates had a positive impact. Further, Luke's research finds that state bans on affirmative action negatively impact black student enrollments at selective institutions only, but impacts completions at universities that are less selective as well. Finally, Luke is developing a critique of the impact of Canadian multiculturalism based on his interviews at three institutions.

As a practitioner, Luke leverages his insights in his current role in efforts to create and assess effective diversity initiatives and programs that improve retention and graduation rates of students of color and other marginalized students on campus.

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