From 1957-91 he was a professor at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where his students included Henry Louis Gates Jr., US Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former President George W. Bush and historian David Greenberg.
He was a professor for nine years at Massachussets Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He is survived by his son, Thomas Blum, two daughters, Pamela Blum of Kingston, New York and Ann Blum of Arlington, Massachusetts; three grandchildren; and his wife, Pamela Blum of North Branford, Connecticut.
He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He returned to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to earn a Master's degree in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1950.
He was the son of Morton Gustav Blum and Edna LeVino and the oldest of three children. The family moved to Long Island from New York City. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in 1943.