A native of Pennsylvania, Robert Lucky received his electrical engineering education at Purdue. He completed a BSEE in 1957, an MSEE in 1959, and a PhD in 1961.

After graduating from Purdue, Lucky joined AT&T Bell Laboratories. Initially he was involved in studying ways of sending digital information via telephone lines. Lucky's work included the development of the adaptive equalizer technique for correcting distortion in telephone signals in high speed data transmission. In his current position as executive director of communications sciences research for AT&T Bell Laboratories, he coordinates research in areas such as fiber optics, data networks, mobile communication, image processing, and broadband communications technologies and services.

Lucky is active in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), has served as president of the IEEE Communications Society, and has been both vice president and executive vice president of the parent organization. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received the prestigious Marconi Award in Italy.

Lucky has served as editor of several technical journals. Since 1982, he has written a bimonthly column for Spectrum magazine. He is a consulting editor for a series of books on communications, the co-author of a heavily cited textbook on data communications, and the author of the popular book, Silicon Dreams.

Lucky has been on the advisory boards or committees of many universities and government organizations. He has received honorary doctorates from Purdue and from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.