Ralph Bunche
From Hoopedia
Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche (August 7, 1903 – December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist, diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize. In 1963, he received the Medal of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy.
Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan to an African-American family; his father was a barber, his mother an amateur musician. They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he was a child to improve his parents' health. His parents died soon after, and he was raised in Los Angeles by his grandmother who looked "white" but was an active member of the black community.
Bunche was a brilliant student, a top debater, and the valedictorian of his graduating class at Jefferson High School. As a high school student in Los Angeles, Bunche starred on Jefferson High School basketball team, graduating in 1922.
At UCLA Bunche became an all-around scholar and athlete. He wrote for the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper, became president of the Debating Society, and was a star basketball player and played football until he injured his leg. While at UCLA, Bunche's teams won the Pacific Coast Conference's Southern Division championship three consecutive years. Bunche was the first African American to play basketball at UCLA.
Bunche graduated summa cum laude from UCLA in 1927 with a B.A. degree in political science and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Again he was class valedictorian and delivered a commencement address.
As a professor at Howard University, he was known to play basketball with the students.
