Diane Burko was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1945. Burko received a B.S. in art history and painting from Skidmore College in 1966, and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. She is professor emeritus at the Community College of Philadelphia, and has taught at various schools across the country such as Princeton University, Arizona State University and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has served on the College Art Association board of directors.

She was the founder of FOCUS, Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts, a two month long all city festival in 1974.