After attending The Buckley School and the Hotchkiss School, Lord graduated magna cum laude from Yale College in 1959 and obtained an M.A. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1960. He has honorary doctorate degrees from several institutions, including Williams College, Tufts University, Bryant College, and Pepperdine University. He is a member of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones.Alexandra Robbins, Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 174-5, 189David W. Dunlap, "Yale Society Resists Peeks Into Its Crypt", New York Times, November 4, 1988.
