UCLA is a world-class public research university comprising a dynamic student population along with an alumni network of over 500,000 graduates. The alumni network of University of California Los Angeles includes various notable personalities bringing social change with their enormous contributions. The UCLA alumni have contributed to society with sports, arts, politics, science & technology and journalism. Till now the University has produced more than 20 sports personalities, 9 film actors, alongside politicians, philanthropists, scientists as well as some nobel laureates. Explore: UCLA Campus Gallery

Since 2015, all UCLA graduates and certificate holders are considered as UCLA Alumni Association Members. UCLA Alumni have the opportunity to take advantage of numerous services from the alumni association of UCLA. Some of the benefits available for UCLA alumni include career programming, scholarships, alumni network, and more. Check: UCLA Student Profile

Table of Contents

  1. UCLA Alumni Benefits
  2. UCLA Top Alumni
    2.1. Deepti Divakar
    2.2. Vinita Gupta
    2.3. Medha Yodh
    2.4. Tom Bradley
    2.5. Ralph Bunche
    2.6. Francis Ford Coppola
    2.7. Kareem Abdullah Jabbar
    2.8. James Franco

UCLA Alumni Benefits

Below are the benefits available for those connected with UCLA alumni association:

  • Gold membership: earn some premium benefits from the alumni association. Some of the gold membership benefits including gift 1000 USD per year, access to on-campus parking, VIP treatment, and many more.
  • Blue membership: earn some additional benefits and services offered by the alumni association including a gift of 100 USD per year, career support, UCLA magazine, recreation and travel opportunities.
  • Life membership: life membership allows alumni to earn lifetime membership and current lifetime members to upgrade for gold membership including a gift of 600 USD.

University of California Los Angeles Top Alumni

Let's have a look at some of the most notable alumni of UCLA who have graduated over the centuries.

Deepti Divakar

Deepti is a popular Indian model and winner of Miss India 1981. She has studied Interior Design at Parsons School of Design, New York and University of California Los Angeles. Deepti has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Bangalore University and a Master of Arts degree in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University.

Vinita Gupta

Vinita Gupta is an American businesswoman, born in India. Vinita has founded Digital Link Corporation (now Quick Eagle Networks) and is the chairperson of the company. She is the first woman of Indian origin who took her company public in the USA.

Medha Yodh

Medha Yodh was a classical Indian dancer, known for her contributions in the Indian-American Bharatnatyam dance form. She was a teacher of Indian classical dance at the UCLA. Medha was the disciple of Tanjore Balasaraswati, the renowned Indian dancer. Medha has created a documentary on Garba, a Gujarati dance form in her years of activity. 

Tom Bradley

Tom Bradley was a politician who served as the first ever and still the only African-American mayor of Los Angeles. His tenure as a mayor lasted for 20 years which is still the highest tenure for any mayor in the history of Los Angeles. He pursued his Bachelor's of Arts degree at University of California Los Angeles between 1937 to 1940. He was admitted to University based on an athletic scholarship. He was responsible for bringing the 1984 summer Olympics to Los Angeles and developed the Business hub, expanded the international airport of Los Angeles as well as started the construction of the first light rail in the city.

Ralph Bunche

Ralph Bunche was an African-American political scientist who became the first ever black man to receive the Nobel Peace prize for resolving the conflict between Arab and Israel in Palestine. Also, he was awarded the President Medal of Freedom in 1963 by the then President John F. Kennedy. He graduated from UCLA with Summa Cum Laude. Some other recognition he received includes the Spingarn Medal from NAACP, Silver Buffalo Award and William J. Donovan from the OSS society.

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is a famous Hollywood filmmaker known for the one greatest movie of all time "The Godfather". He changed the way of filmmaking with his visionary and unconventional ideas. He attended UCLA to pursue a Master of Arts degree between 1958 and 1960. While pursuing his degree at UCLA, he directed two short movies named The Two Christopher's and Ayamonn The Terrible. He received numerous accolades for his contribution to filmmaking among which are being featured among the 25 most influential directors of all time, ranked 9th among the top directors of all time, and many more.

Kareem Abdullah Jabbar

The former professional basketball player who is well known for playing in the National Basketball Association for two clubs. He pursued bachelor of arts at UCLA between 1966 and 1999 and remained one of most notable basketball players throughout his College life. Kareem Abdullah holds the record of winning NBA most valuable player for 6 times, NBA all star for 19 times, all NBA selection 15 times and NBA all defence team member for 19 times.

James Franco

James Franco is regarded as the young face of Hollywood for outstanding acting performances. Franco started his bachelor's of arts at UCLA but he dropped out after completing the first year in order to pursue his acting career. He came back to UCLA to be able to complete his education in 2006 and received his bachelor's of arts in English in 2008. He became globally famous after portraying the role of Harry Osborn in the 2002 movie "Spiderman". He was originally supposed to play the titular role of spiderman/peter parker but he ended up getting the role Peter's friend.

The list of UCLA alumni is long. It includes actress Mayim Bialik, Carol Burnett, Gabrielle Union and actors like Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Rob Reiner and several others.