Carol L. Lorenzen received a B.S. degree in Animal Science with a Meat Science option from Washington State University in 1987. She worked as a Technical Service Representative in the premix division of Central Soya from 1988 to 1991. She completed her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Animal Science at Texas A&M University in 1993 and 1997, respectively.

Upon graduation Carol spent a year as a Technical Consultant with the PM Group working on the validation of tenderness testing equipment and video imaging for cutability determination. In April of 1999 she joined the faculty in the Department of Food Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia as an Assistant Professor to teach and conduct Meat Science research. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005. The focus of her research has been in the area of red meat quality. Much of her applied research has focused on the consumer acceptance of beef and pork. She also conducts more exploratory research on the development of a biosensor to detect calpastatin and ultimately predict beef tenderness.

Her research program has garnered over $1.5 million in federal, industrial and university grants. Carol is currently a Member at Large of the Muscle Foods Division Board of the Institute of Food Technologists. In 2005 Carol received the American Meat Science Association Achievement Award. In 2006 she received the Division of Student Affairs Excellence in Education Award from the University of Missouri.