While at UK, Lorch served on the University Senate, and has previously been a member of the College of Arts & Sciences Review Committee, the Social Sciences Advisory Committee, and the Selection Committee for University Research Professors. She earned her bachelor’s in psychology from Emmanuel College in 1974, and received her master’s (1977) and doctorate (1981) from the University of Massachusetts. Her primary research interests concern the development of attention and comprehension processes, especially among children diagnosed with ADHD. Lorch also has conducted research on adolescent drug abuse prevention and classroom-based studies on elementary school science education. A longtime Professor in the Department of Psychology, Lorch is the author or coauthor of dozens of articles in her field(s) and has been the recipient of several extramural research grants from such institutions as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Mental Health, and the Institute of Education Sciences. For her service in the classroom at UK, Lorch has been awarded the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teachers Prize and the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, and was named a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teacher in 1994.