Lorna Peterson was born in Buffalo and graduated from Bennett High School in 1974. She earned a B.A. in history and English from Dickenson College (1977), an M.S. in Library Science from Case Western Reserve University (1980) and a Ph.D. in Professional Studies in Education from Iowa State University (1992). Peterson joined the faculty of the University at Buffalo's School of Information and Library Studies in 1990 as a visiting assistant professor. She became an assistant professor in 1991 and was promoted to associate professor in 1998. She retired from UB in 2014.