Luks did his undergraduate studies at the
City College of New York, earning a bachelor's degree in 1960, and went on to graduate studies at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a doctorate in mathematics in 1966 under the supervision of
Kenkichi Iwasawa. He taught at
Tufts University from 1966 to 1968, and at
Bucknell University from then until 1983, when he joined the University of Oregon faculty as chair of the computer and information science department. but was recalled in 2012–2013 to serve as interim chair. ==Awards and honors==