U. of C. awards one ripe Ph.D.

August 21, 2006

BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter

When Herbert Baum graduates from the University of Chicago on Friday, he will receive a degree that was 55 years in the making.

When he crosses the stage, Baum, 79, will become the oldest person ever to be granted a Ph.D. from the Hyde Park school. But he wasn't in school that entire time. Rather, he spent more than three decades working in the strawberry industry and eventually wrote a book on his life's work that has since become his dissertation.

Baum got a master's in economics from the U. of C. in 1951. He decided to leave, despite taking classes with future Nobel winner Milton Friedman, saying he didn't have any great ideas for a dissertation.

Doctorate always nagged at him

The Fort Wayne, Ind., native, whose parents were produce wholesalers, made his way to California, where he got involved in the fledgling fresh strawberry industry.

He eventually became president of Naturipe Berry Growers and watched the industry turn into a huge business. He was chairman of the California Strawberry Commission twice as the state became the predominant supplier of fresh strawberries worldwide.

He retired in 1991 and had a life's worth of documents and material that he thought would make a good book. But there was something that always nagged at him.

"I was always interested in getting my doctorate,'' he said.

He got in touch with some U. of C. professors to work on a proposal but figured he should finish the book, which he self-published last year under the title Quest for the Perfect Strawberry. The goal, he said, is developing a berry that has nice color and tastes good but can also ship long distances without spoiling.

Several months ago, he forwarded it to U. of C. Professor James Heckman, who won the Nobel prize in economics in 2000. Heckman thought the book could qualify as a dissertation. A committee was formed featuring three Nobel prize winners -- including Heckman and Friedman.

Baum moved to campus for two months this summer from his home in Oregon and worked on defending his dissertation. "It was challenging and frightening because I'm not an academic,'' he said. "To be around Nobel laureates and the guys here, it was overwhelming.''

After some changes, his dissertation passed muster.

Heckman praised Baum's work, saying it "combines theory with evidence in a convincing way in a serious piece of research on a major agricultural industry.''

Baum said he is on "cloud nine'' as he prepares to graduate -- and move back to Oregon.

"It wasn't easy, but it's exciting and very fulfilling,'' he said.

dnewbart@suntimes.com