Keith Belk serves as Professor and Holder of the Monfort Endowed Chair, Center for Meat Safety & Quality, Colorado State University (CSU), and as an Adjunct Professor in the Colorado School of Public Health. Previously, he served as Professor and Head of the Department of Animal Sciences at CSU. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from CSU, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He has been employed in the private sector as a buyer by Safeway, Inc., and by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service in Washington, DC, as an International Marketing Specialist. At CSU since 1995, he has authored or co-authored >276 refereed scientific journal articles, provided over 530 invited presentations, generated >$23M in extramural research funding, and was the primary inventor on two patents. He served as the state Meat Extension Specialist between 1995 and 2000, on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Animal Science in 1997-2000, on the Board of Directors for the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) between 2003-2005, and as President of AMSA in 2009-2010. He currently serves on the International Committee for the National Western Stock Show, the Board of Directors for the International Stockmen’s Educational Foundation, on the Academic Advisory Committee for the Meat Institute Protein PACT, and on the technical advisory committees for Sustainable Beef, JBS, Colorado Premium Foods, and Hawkins.