Burke received his BFA from Syracuse University and his MFA from the University of Hartford. Burke has lectured at Syracuse University, The Norman Rockwell Museum, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He formerly instructed painting and illustration at Pratt Institute, and as a visiting artist at Syracuse University. He returned to New Hampshire in Fall of 2009, when appointed Chairperson of the Illustration Department at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. In Fall 2016, Burke was appointed Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, in Minneapolis, MN.