A commitment to higher education undergirds University of Richmond alum’s career, volunteerism, and charitable giving
Workdays are anything but typical for Dr. Evan Baum, director of strategic customer engagement at Workday, a Fortune 500 information system software vendor. “I enjoy the variety in my job,” said the 2003 University of Richmond alumnus. “Recently, I was onsite with an Ivy League institution answering questions about Workday as part of a formal request-for-proposals process.
“The next day, I flew to another state to meet with senior leadership at a small private religious institution about incorporating Workday’s student system alongside their Workday HR and finance systems. Then I flew to another state for a retreat of state university and community college CFOs, where I served on a panel about the role of AI in higher education finance.”
While his team concentrates on higher education, state and local government, and healthcare organizations, Baum’s individual focus is higher education. In meetings with customers, he said he asks probing questions, listens deeply, and works hard to build trust.
“Integrity is a core value — representing what we do as a company honestly and creating reasonable expectations,” he said. He estimated that, in the last 10 years, he has visited 250 campuses and worked with some 500 colleges and universities.
After majoring in leadership studies and political science at Richmond, the Spider alum earned a master’s in education policy and leadership from the University of Maryland. He then earned a master’s in organization development and knowledge management and a doctorate in higher education, both from George Mason University. He spent a decade working on college campuses before joining Workday in 2016, just as the company was preparing to launch its student system.
One of his early Workday forays was a visit to his alma mater in 2016 when Richmond was considering adopting the software system. “It was kind of surreal to be giving Workday presentations in Jepson Hall classrooms where I had taken undergraduate classes,” Baum recalled. Richmond officially adopted and launched Workday in January 2025.
Wanting to hold an ethical line, Baum said he avoided philanthropic involvement with the University while it was considering adopting Workday, so as not to influence a business decision. Now, however, he feels free to give back to his alma mater. He recently joined the Jepson School of Leadership Studies Executive Board of Advisors, and along with his wife, donated funds to endow the Evan and Beth Baum Scholarship for Commitment to Servant Leadership.
His wife, Beth Baum, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The George Washington University and a law degree from American University, shares his enthusiasm for supporting higher education, he said.
“My Richmond education was so meaningful to me in terms of where I’ve been able to go professionally,” Baum said. “Beth and I want to ensure a Richmond education is accessible to students of all socio-economic backgrounds, with preference given to a Jepson student. Although volunteering is not a requirement for receiving the scholarship, we included servant leadership in the scholarship name to help the recipient understand why a commitment to public service and nonprofit and volunteer work has mattered to us.”
Baum volunteered with the Greater Philadelphia YMCA on youth civic education programming for over 20 years. He currently serves as a mentor with Braven, a nonprofit that assists promising college students from humble backgrounds as they transition to professional careers.
“Evan embodies the ethical servant leadership principles taught at Jepson,” said Sandra Peart, dean of the Jepson School. “Through his professional and volunteer endeavors and generous gift to the University, he is paving the way for the next generation of leaders.”