Richard Dennis Baum (Chinese: 包瑞嘉; pinyin: Bāo Ruìjiā; July 8, 1940 – December 14, 2012) was an American China watcher, professor emeritus of political science at UCLA, and former director emeritus of the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies, noted for his many academic works on Chinese politics. Baum credited Rhoda Sutherland of Oxford University with inspiring his interest in linguistics.