Daniel Baum of Elizabethtown has been selected as the 2025 Animal Science Distinguished Alumni by Penn State's Department of Animal Science. Lisa Holden, interim department head, presented the award to him at Penn State on April 11 at the Stockmen's Club banquet and on April 12 at the Little International Livestock Exposition at the Snider Ag Arena.

Baum, a 1978 Penn State graduate with a degree in animal production, is president of the Daniel Baum Company, born out of a third-generation family business, Baum's Bologna, active in manufacturing fermented sausage products. The Daniel Baum Company continues to maintain ties with the family bologna business while aiming to deliver solutions for health, productivity, performance, and wellness for livestock and pets around the globe.

Baum's Bologna has produced sweet bologna for more than 100 years. The Daniel Baum Company was founded in 1984, after the discovery of a new process to speed up the fermentation of sweet bologna revealed new applications in animal agriculture. Baum has led the development of more than 50 products for use in cattle, poultry, equine, porcine, pet, and cervid nutrition and health industries, and his company has been recognized around the world for providing outstanding customer service and top-quality products. DBC Ag Products and Nutri-Core poultry line provides health and nutritional solutions for the poultry industry from the hatchery to the laying house. Additionally, Baum, his brother, and other collaborators began Head Gear, which provides advanced nutritional science and animal health technology for wild and farm deer.

While at Penn State, Baum was active in the Block and Bridle Club, showing in three Little International Shows. He also wrestled for Penn State from 1974 to 1978. He worked at the Meats Lab.

Baum is married to Jennifer, a fellow Penn Stater, and they have three children and six grandchildren, one of whom is a freshman at University Park.