Researcher to discuss impact of FSU's famed '49ers' faculty during 2014 Werner A. Baum Lecture

Sandy Baum

Sandy Baum, a research professor of education and human development at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., will be the guest speaker at the 2014 Werner A. Baum Lecture, taking place at Florida State University on Thursday, Oct. 9. During the free, public lecture, Baum will speak on “Past, Present and Future: What FSU’s 49ers Can Teach Us About the Future of Higher Education in America.”

Baum is herself the daughter of one of those “49ers,” a group of faculty members hired by Florida State in 1949 who would have a transformative effect on the university for decades to come. Among his many accomplishments, the late Professor Werner A. Baum established the Department of Meteorology at FSU, then became the university’s Director of Research and its dean of Graduate Studies.

Between 1963 and 1979, Werner Baum left Florida State to serve as president of the University of Rhode Island and as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. While in Wisconsin, he also served as president of the American Meteorological Society. He returned to FSU in 1979 as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and remained active in meteorological research even after his retirement in 1990. Baum died in 1999.

Sandy Baum’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place:

THURSDAY, OCT. 9

4 – 6 P.M.

GRAND BALLROOM, FSU ALUMNI CENTER

1030 W. TENNESSEE ST.

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

Werner A. Baum

Sandy Baum is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and a research professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She has written and spoken extensively on issues relating to college access, college pricing, student aid policy, student debt, affordability, and other aspects of higher-education finance.

Baum said she was overwhelmed with the request to speak at the Werner A. Baum Lecture, but accepted it with joy.

“This is an amazing invitation,” she said. “I am really moved by it. And it will be a wonderful opportunity to honor my parents.” Her mother, longtime FSU supporter Shirley B. Baum, passed away in October 2013.

Sandy Baum said she is looking forward not only to providing some remembrances of her parents but also to giving her insight and perspective as a professor of economics in higher education on the issues facing Florida higher education and FSU specifically.