Richard Luker
Rich Luker has been studying American Life for more than 25 years. His earliest research examined the role of media use in adolescent social development - the topic of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan.
He is best known for his creation of the ESPN Sports Poll which began in 1994. The Sports Poll was the first dedicated ongoing intelligence service to collect information from Americans on their interests and activities related to sports.
Luker's research in 1999 identified a dominant sense of loss of community felt by most Americans. His study of American social development led Rich to believe being a service-based economy, coupled with an increasing role of communication technology, led to less face-to-face interaction between family, friends and neighbors. Luker began to develop strategies to reinvigorate American community in 2001. The most successful to date is the NCAA Division II strategy highlighted on the website www.diicommunity.org. Luker is currently developing similar strategies for high school through the National Federation of State High School Associations and through Minor League Baseball. In 2009, Luker published Simple Community which documents the loss of American community and provides a way for American brands to profitably invest in restoring community.
Dr. Luker's research has been featured in many national publications including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, and Advertising Age. Luker has appeared on national news programs on ABC, FOX, ESPN, and NPR. Recognizing Luker's two decades of forward thinking research, in 2009 Sports Business Journal asked him to write a full page quarterly column on trends called Up Next. The column presents Luker's latest trend research, tracks key statistics and polls industry leaders on the issues most affecting the sports industry.
Rich has provided strategic consulting and research for a wide range of clients including major brands like Coca-Cola, VISA, McDonald's, General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, Sony and NIKE, major sports leagues like the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NCAA, and media companies like Disney/ESPN, Fox, Turner and Sports Illustrated.
Dr. Luker earned his M.A. in psychology and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in a joint communication and psychology doctoral program. While at Michigan, Rich trained and worked in the Institute for Social Research for two years.
Rich remains active academically as well. In 2005, Dr. Luker was named the Woodard Family Senior Research Fellow in the Warsaw Center at the University of Oregon. Rich was an Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Kinesiology, University of Michigan from 1998-2006 and at Northwestern University from 2006 to 2009.
