He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 1953,[1] and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard in 1958, with a dissertation titled Derivations in Commutative Semi-Simple Banach Algebras.
[2] He developed the Baum–Welch Algorithm with Lloyd Welch while working for the Communications Research Division of IDA.
[3] It enabled the development of speech recognition and had applications in cryptanalysis and genetics.
"[4][5] Later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Baum used mathematical models for currency trading, working with Monemetrics, a predecessor of hedge fund management company Renaissance Technologies.
[5] In his later years, he would participate in Go tournaments and work on mathematical problems relating to prime numbers and the Riemann hypothesis.