L. David Roper earned a BA with Honors from Oklahoma Baptist University in physics/math/chemistry. He received a PhD in theoretical physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963. His PhD thesis involved the discovery of the Roper Resonance, a heavy proton. He was a physics postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for two years.

David joined the physics department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg in 1967 where he was department head 1990-1995; he retired in 1998.

He is a co-founder of Sustainable Blacksburg and Valley Interfaith Child Care Center, both non-profit organizations, and designed and helped build the Roper Solar Greenhouse at the Hale Community Garden in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Dave drives a Tesla Model 3 Long-Range/RWD BEV, his fifth BEV, which he has driven on trips from Virginia to Texas and Florida. He promotes electric cars through talks and shows, including installing public charging stations. His Tesla is usually charged with energy from a solar photovoltaic system on his house.