In 1949 he began a fourteen year career at Florida State University with an appointment as an Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Meteorology.
[8] During his presidency at URI during the Richard Nixon administration, Baum and Clarence Tarzwell helped establish two federal laboratories adjacent to the URI Narragansett Bay Campus, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Laboratory, and the Atlantic Ecology Laboratory (41°29′39″N 71°25′23″W / 41.494139°N 71.422941°W / 41.494139; -71.422941) of the Environmental Protection Agency that was newly formed in 1972 as a result of the Clean Water Act.
[8] In 1979, Baum returned as dean of the College of Art and Sciences at Florida State University and remained until his retirement from academia in 1990.
He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1955 and he was bestowed the AAAS Academy Freedom and Responsibility Award in 1985.
In retirement from university administration, Baum continued to serve as Chairman National Climate Program Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1979 until 1986.