Carol Blum joined the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) in 2001 as Director of Research Compliance and Administration. Prior to joining COGR, Blum served as Associate Vice President for Research at Ohio University from 1991 to 2001, serving as Interim Vice President for Research for two years during her tenure. At Ohio University, Blum had responsibilities for research compliance administration, program design and implementation, and budget functions for the units reporting to the vice president. She joined Ohio University after three years on the staff of the State of Ohio Board of Regents as Director of Graduate and Special Programs. She has served as a project director for grant-funded history and cultural studies projects for the State of West Virginia, Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati where she served as assistant director of the [then] Center for Women's Studies.

Blum holds a PhD from the University of Cincinnati in history (1987). Her research focus is on the development of cities and women's roles in the development of social service and philanthropic organizations to serve cities. She earned her master's from Goddard College (Plainfield VT) and her baccalaureate from Marquette University (Milwaukee WI).