He graduated from high school in Lakewood Township, New Jersey in 1938 and went on to earn a degree from Cornell University in hotel management in 1943.
[1] In 1946, he went to work for Harris, Kerr, Foster & Company in Manhattan and took over the management of one of its hotels, the Monte Carlo, in 1947.
Baum spared no expense, hiring top architects, designers, and consultants such as James Beard and Julia Child.
Baum left Restaurant Associates to consult on his own, often working with Arthur Emil, and later, Michael Whiteman.
His other projects included development of restaurants in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Hallmark Cards Crown Center in Kansas City, and Place Bonaventure in Montréal.