The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
land-grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a
teachers college
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
then known as the southern branch of the
California State Normal School
The California State Normal School was a teaching college system founded on May 2, 1862, eventually evolving into San Jose State University, San José State University in San Jose, California, San Jose and the University of California, Los Angel ...
(now
San José State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
). This school was absorbed with the official founding of UCLA as the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1919, making it the second-oldest of the 10-campus
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
system (after
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
).
UCLA offers 337 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines, enrolling about 31,600 undergraduate and 14,300 graduate and professional students. UCLA received 174,914 undergraduate applications for Fall 2022, including transfers, making the school the most applied-to university in the United States.
The university is organized into the College of Letters and Science and 12 professional schools. Six of the schools offer undergraduate degree programs: the School of the Arts and Architecture, Samueli School of Engineering,
Herb Alpert School of Music
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, is “the first school of music to be established in the University of California system.” Established in 2007 under the purview of the U ...
,
School of Nursing
Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
David Geffen School of Medicine
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in h ...
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
round out the university.
UCLA is considered one of the country's
Public Ivies
"Public Ivy" is a term that refers to prestigious public colleges and universities in the United States that provide a collegiate experience similar to those in the Ivy League.Richard Moll in his book ''Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best pub ...
, and is frequently ranked among the best universities in the world by major college and university rankings. , 27 Nobel laureates, five Turing Award winners, two Chief Scientists of the U.S. Air Force and one Fields Medalist have been affiliated with UCLA as faculty, researchers or alumni. Among the current faculty members, 55 have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 32 to the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
, 41 to the
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
and 167 to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
. The university was elected to the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
in 1974.
UCLA student-athletes compete as the Bruins in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins have won 120
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
team championships, second only to Stanford University's 128 team titles. In total, 410 Bruins have made Olympic teams, winning 270 Olympic medals: 136
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
, 71
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
, and 63 bronze. UCLA has been represented in every Olympics since the university's founding with one exception (
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...
) and has had a gold medalist in every Olympics the U.S. participated in since 1932.
History
In March 1881, at the request of state senator
Reginaldo Francisco del Valle
Reginaldo Francisco del Valle (December 15, 1854 – September 20, 1938) was a Californio statesman and lawyer, who served as a member of the California Senate and California Assembly. He was the youngest ever President pro tempore of the C ...
, the California State Legislature authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State
Normal School
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
(now San José State University) in downtown Los Angeles to train teachers for the growing population of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. The Los Angeles branch of the California State Normal School opened on August 29, 1882, on what is now the site of the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library system. The facility included a demonstration school where teachers-in-training could practice their techniques with children. That elementary school would become the present day UCLA Lab School. In 1887, the branch campus became independent and changed its name to Los Angeles State Normal School.
In 1914, the school moved to a new campus on
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length be ...
(now the site of
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...
) in
East Hollywood
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
. In 1917, UC Regent Edward Augustus Dickson, the only regent representing the Southland at the time, and
Ernest Carroll Moore
Ernest Carroll Moore (1871–1955) was an American educator. He co-founded the University of California, Southern Branch, in Los Angeles, California.
Biography
Early life
Moore was born in 1871 in Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Norma ...
, Director of the Normal School, began to lobby the State Legislature to enable the school to become the second
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
campus, after
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
. They met resistance from UC Berkeley alumni, Northern California members of the state legislature and then-UC President
Benjamin Ide Wheeler
Benjamin Ide Wheeler (July 15, 1854– May 2, 1927) was a professor of Greek and comparative philology at Cornell University, writer, and President of the University of California from 1899 to 1919.
Life and career
Early years
Benjamin ...
, who were all vigorously opposed to the idea of a southern campus. However,
David Prescott Barrows
David Prescott Barrows (June 27, 1873 – September 5, 1954) was an American anthropologist, explorer, and educator. Born in Chicago in 1874, his family moved to California. He showed a keen interest in the life and customs of Native Americans, ...
, the new President of the University of California in 1919, did not share Wheeler's objections.
On May 23, 1919, the Southern Californians' efforts were rewarded when Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, which acquired the land and buildings and transformed the Los Angeles Normal School into the Southern Branch of the University of California. The same legislation added its general undergraduate program, the Junior College. The Southern Branch campus opened on September 15 of that year, offering two-year undergraduate programs to 250 Junior College students and 1,250 students in the Teachers College, under Moore's continued direction.
Southern Californians were furious that their so-called "branch" provided only an inferior junior college program (mocked at the time by
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
students as "the twig"), and continued to fight Northern Californians (specifically, Berkeley) for the right to three and then four years of instruction, culminating in bachelor's degrees. On December 11, 1923, the Board of Regents authorized a fourth year of instruction and transformed the Junior College into the College of Letters and Science, which awarded its first bachelor's degrees on June 12, 1925.
Under UC President
William Wallace Campbell
William Wallace Campbell (April 11, 1862 – June 14, 1938) was an American astronomer, and director of Lick Observatory from 1901 to 1930. He specialized in spectroscopy. He was the tenth president of the University of California from 1923 to 1 ...
, enrollment at the Southern Branch expanded so rapidly that by the mid-1920s the institution was outgrowing the 25 acre Vermont Avenue location. The Regents searched for a new location and announced their selection of the so-called "Beverly Site"—just west of
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
—on March 21, 1925, edging out the panoramic hills of the still-empty
Palos Verdes Peninsula
The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the S ...
. After the athletic teams entered the Pacific Coast conference in 1926, the Southern Branch student council adopted the nickname "Bruins", a name offered by the student council at UC Berkeley. In 1927, the Regents renamed the
Southern Branch
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
the University of California at Los Angeles (the word "at" was officially replaced by a comma in 1958, in line with other UC campuses). In the same year, the state broke ground in Westwood on land sold for $1 million, less than one-third its value, by real estate developers Edwin and Harold Janss, for whom the Janss Steps are named. The campus in Westwood opened to students in 1929.
The original four buildings were the College Library (now
Powell Library
Powell Library is the main college undergraduate library on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Powell Library is also known as the College Library. It was constructed from 1926 to 1929 and was one of the original f ...
),
Royce Hall
Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870–1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881–1962) and completed ...
, the Physics-Biology Building (which became the Humanities Building and is now the Renee and David Kaplan Hall), and the Chemistry Building (now Haines Hall), arrayed around a quadrangular courtyard on the 400 acre (1.6 km2) campus. The first undergraduate classes on the new campus were held in 1929 with 5,500 students. After lobbying by alumni, faculty, administration and community leaders, UCLA was permitted to award the
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in 1933, and the
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in 1936, against continued resistance from UC Berkeley.
Maturity as a university
During its first 32 years, UCLA was treated as an off-site department of UC. As such, its presiding officer was called a "provost", and reported to the main campus in Berkeley. In 1951, UCLA was formally elevated to co-equal status with UC Berkeley, and its presiding officer Raymond B. Allen was the first chief executive to be granted the title of chancellor. The appointment of Franklin David Murphy to the position of Chancellor in 1960 helped spark an era of tremendous growth of facilities and faculty honors. By the end of the decade, UCLA had achieved distinction in a wide range of subjects. This era also secured UCLA's position as a proper university and not simply a branch of the UC system. This change is exemplified by an incident involving Chancellor Murphy, which was described by him:
I picked up the telephone and called in from somewhere, and the phone operator said, "University of California." And I said, "Is this Berkeley?" She said, "No." I said, "Well, who have I gotten to?" "UCLA." I said, "Why didn't you say UCLA?" "Oh", she said, "we're instructed to say University of California." So the next morning I went to the office and wrote a memo; I said, "Will you please instruct the operators, as of noon today, when they answer the phone to say, 'UCLA. And they said, "You know they won't like it at Berkeley." And I said, "Well, let's just see. There are a few things maybe we can do around here without getting their permission."
Recent history
On June 1, 2016, two men were killed in a murder-suicide at an engineering building in the university. School officials put the campus on
lockdown
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
as
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
officers, including SWAT, cleared the campus. In February 2022, Matthew Harris, a former lecturer and postdoctoral fellow at UCLA, was arrested after allegedly making numerous threats of violence against students and faculty members of UCLA's Philosophy Department.
In 2018, a student-led community coalition known as "Westwood Forward" successfully led an effort to break UCLA and Westwood Village away from the existing Westwood Neighborhood Council and form a new North Westwood Neighborhood Council, with over 2,000 out of 3,521 stakeholders voting in favor of the split. Westwood Forward's campaign focused on making housing more affordable and encouraging nightlife in Westwood by opposing many of the restrictions on housing developments and restaurants the Westwood Neighborhood Council had promoted.
Sexual harassment scandals
In 2014, a graduate student adviser and professor in the history department, Gabriel Piterberg, was accused of sexually assaulting two students. A lawsuit was filed against the university by sexual harassment attorney
Ann Olivarius
Ann Olivarius (born 19 February 1955) is an American-British lawyer who specializes in cases of civil litigation, sexual discrimination, and sexual harassment, assault, and abuse.
Early life and education
Ann Olivarius grew up in New Jersey, th ...
for its failure to properly act on the accusations. An editorial in the student newspaper wrote about the university's response, "This outcome is an embarrassment for UCLA. Not only does this represent a huge step backward and a betrayal of students’ trust, but it displays a startlingly low standard when it comes to treatment of sexual assault suspects." The university settled with the plaintiffs and eventually, after simply suspending and fining Piterberg, did more after student protest and legal efforts, including "separation from employment, denial of emeritus status, nddenial of future employment with the University of California."
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on enforcing civil rights laws prohibiting schools from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex ...
investigated UCLA and other universities for their compliance with
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
and responses to
sexual violence
Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...
.
In 2018, the university came into the national spotlight again when the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' reported that four UCLA employees had filed lawsuits against UCLA and the UC Board of Regents having accused their workplace supervisor of sexual harassment and the university of failing to properly handle abuse complaints. The harassment allegedly started in early 2016, according to the lawsuits. The women faced retaliation from other supervisors after they filed complaints. The retaliatory behavior included making the women do more work and not allowing them to take time off to see their attorney. They are seeking more than $120 million in damages.
Subsequently, an audit by the California State Auditor found inconsistent discipline in UCLA sexual misconduct cases. The state audit also found that UCLA did not follow university policy or Title IX requirements.
2019 college admissions bribery scandal
UCLA was one of several universities named in the largest college admissions scandal ever prosecuted by the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
. On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo was one of many coaches across the country charged with racketeering and conspiracy, and is alleged to have taken over $200,000 in bribes. Salcedo pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2020, and in March 2021 was sentenced to, among other things, 8 months in prison.
Campus
The new UCLA campus in 1929 had four buildings: Royce Hall and Haines Hall on the north, and Powell Library and Kinsey Hall (now called Renee And David Kaplan Hall) on the south. The Janss Steps were the original 87-step entrance to the university that lead to the quad of these four buildings. Today, the campus includes 163 buildings across 419 acres (1.7 km2) in the western part of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, north of the Westwood shopping district and just south of
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
. In terms of acreage, it is the second-smallest of the ten UC campuses. The campus is approximately 1 mile east of I-405 (the
San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway is one of the named principal Southern California freeways. It consists of the following two segments:
* Interstate 5, from California State Route 94 in San Diego to Interstate 405 (El Toro Y) in Irvine
* Interstate 405, in ...
).
The campus is in the residential area of Westwood and bordered by Bel-Air to the north, Beverly Hills to the east, and Brentwood to the west. The campus is informally divided into North Campus and South Campus, which are both on the eastern half of the university's land. North Campus is the original campus core; its buildings are more traditional in appearance and clad in imported Italian brick. North Campus is home to the arts, humanities, social sciences, law, history, and business programs and is centered around ficus and sycamore-lined Dickson Court, also known as the "Sunken Garden". South Campus is home to the physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, mathematical sciences, health-related fields, and the
UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...
. The campus includes sculpture gardens, fountains, museums, and a mix of architectural styles.
Ackerman Union, the
John Wooden Center
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, the Arthur Ashe Health and Wellness Center, the Student Activities Center, Kerckhoff Hall, the J.D. Morgan Center, the James West Alumni Center, and
Pauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...
stand at the center of the campus, bordering Wilson Plaza. The campus is bisected by Bruin Walk, a heavily traveled pathway from the residential hill to the main campus. At the intersection of Bruin Walk and Westwood Plaza is Bruin Plaza, featuring an outdoor performing arts stage and a bronze statue of the Bruin bear.
During the
2028 Summer Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...
, wrestling and judo will be held at Pauley Pavilion. The campus will also be the location of the Olympic Village for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In September 2022 UCLA purchased the
Palos Verdes
The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the S ...
(PV) campus of
Marymount California University
Marymount California University was a private Catholic university in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Originally founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RHSM), the university awarded associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees. T ...
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
will again be visible from a UCLA campus.
Architecture
The first buildings were designed by the local firm Allison & Allison. The
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
style of these first four structures remained the predominant building style until the 1950s, when architect
Welton Becket
Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California.
Biography
Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...
was hired to supervise the expansion of the campus over the next two decades.
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
was chosen as an alternative to Collegiate Gothic to parallel the climate of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
to the warm, sunny weather of the Southern Mediterranean.
Becket greatly streamlined its
general appearance, adding several rows of
minimalist
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
, slab–shaped brick buildings to the southern half, the largest of these being the
UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Remarkably pr ...
, and Paul Williams designed many subsequent structures on the campus during the mid-20th century. More recent additions include buildings designed by architects
I.M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei – website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
Cesar Pelli Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol
* ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt
* César Award, a French film award
Places
* Cesar, Portugal
* Ces ...
, and
Rafael Vinoly
Rafael may refer to:
* Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin
* Rafael, California
* Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology
* Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane
Fiction
* ''R ...
. To accommodate UCLA's rapidly growing student population, multiple construction and renovation projects are in progress, including expansions of the life sciences and engineering research complexes. This continuous construction gives UCLA the nickname "Under Construction Like Always".
One notable building on campus is named after African-American alumnus Ralph Bunche, who received the 1950
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
for negotiating an armistice agreement between the Jews and Arabs in Israel. The entrance of Bunche Hall features a bust of him overlooking the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden. He was the first individual of non-European background and the first UCLA alumnus to be honored with the Prize.
The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is located a mile north of campus, in the community of Bel Air. The garden was designed by landscape architect
Nagao Sakurai
Nagao Sakurai(桜井長雄) (November 5, 1896 – July 1973) of the Imperial Palace of Tokyo was a landscape architect.
Notable designs
*Japanese Tea Garden, Central Park, San Mateo, California.
* Nishinomiya Japanese Garden, in the M ...
of Tokyo and garden designer
Kazuo Nakamura
Kazuo Nakamura was a Japanese-Canadian painter and sculptor (born Vancouver October 13, 1926; died Toronto April 9, 2002) and a founding member of the Toronto-based Painters Eleven group in the 1950s. Among the first major Japanese Canadian arti ...
of Kyoto in 1959. The garden was donated to UCLA by former UC regent and UCLA alumnus Edward W. Carter and his wife Hannah Carter in 1964 with the stipulation that it remains open to the public. After the garden was damaged by heavy rains in 1969, UCLA Professor of Art and Campus Architect Koichi Kawana took on the task of its reconstruction. The property was sold in 2016 and public access is no longer required.
Filming
UCLA has attracted filmmakers for decades with its proximity to Hollywood. Much of the film '' Gotcha!'' (1985) was shot at UCLA, as well as
John Singleton
John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...
's ''
Higher Learning
''Higher Learning'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams ( Omar Epp ...
'' (1995). ''
Legally Blonde
''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who, despite her lack of education in the law, was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Compan ...
'' (2000), ''
How High
''How High'' is a 2001 American stoner comedy film starring Method Man and Redman, written by Dustin Lee Abraham, and director Jesse Dylan's debut feature film.
In the film, Redman and Method Man portray two cannabis users who are visited by ...
'' (2001), ''
National Lampoon's Van Wilder
''National Lampoon's Van Wilder'' (released internationally as ''Van Wilder: Party Liaison'' and ''Party Animals'') is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Walt Becker and written by Brent Goldberg and David T. Wagner.
The film stars Ryan R ...
'' (2002), ''
American Pie 2
''American Pie 2'' is a 2001 American sex comedy film directed by James B. Rogers and written by Adam Herz and David H. Steinberg from a story by Herz. A sequel to the 1999 comedy film '' American Pie'', it is the second film in the ''American ...
'' (2001), and ''
Bring It On Again
''Bring It On Again'' is a 2004 American cheerleading comedy film directed by Damon Santostefano and starring Anne Judson-Yager and Bree Turner.
This film is a sequel to '' Bring It On'', but there are no recurring cast members or canonical ref ...
'' (2004) were all mainly shot around campus. In January 2009, the Bollywood movie '' My Name is Khan'' (2010) was shot on campus. UCLA is also often cast as Stanford in television shows such as ''
The Mindy Project
''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Un ...
'' and ''
Chuck
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* C ...
''. Some of the exterior shots of the fictional UC Sunnydale in '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and ABC Family original series ''
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
'' were also filmed at UCLA. The site was also used to represent the fictional Windsor College which appears in ''
Scream 2
''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Tim ...
'' (1997).
In response to the major demand for filming, UCLA has instated a policy to regulate filming and professional photography at the campus.
"UCLA is located in Los Angeles, the same place as the American motion picture industry", said UCLA visiting professor of film and television Jonathan Kuntz. "So we're convenient for (almost) all of the movie companies, TV production companies, commercial companies and so on. We're right where the action is."
Transportation and parking
The campus maintains 24,000 parking spaces, and operates an award-winning sustainable transportation program. Elements of the sustainable transportation program include vanpools, a campus shuttle system called BruinBus, discounted carpool permits, and subsidized transit passes. One of the pass programs includes BruinGo!, which allows students and staff members to purchase discounted passes to ride Santa Monica's
Big Blue Bus
Big Blue Bus (stylized, big blue bus) is a municipal bus service serving the city of Santa Monica and the greater Westside region of Los Angeles County. The service, operated by the city of Santa Monica, was founded on April 14, 1928 and thro ...
and the
Culver CityBus
Culver CityBus is a public transport agency operating in Culver City, California, currently serving Culver City, the unincorporated community of Marina del Rey, and the adjacent Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Its regular fleet is painted bright gr ...
. Additionally, UCLA has a grocery shuttle that transports students between the dorms and Westwood, on weekends in order to facilitate students' shopping needs. E-Scooters and e-bikes are popular transportation options on campus; approved vendors include Bird, Lyft, and Wheels.
Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, informally known as UCLA Samueli School of Engineering or UCLA Engineering, is the school of engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). It opened as the Colle ...
(HSSEAS)
*
Herb Alpert School of Music
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, is “the first school of music to be established in the University of California system.” Established in 2007 under the purview of the U ...
School of Nursing
Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
David Geffen School of Medicine
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in h ...
School of Nursing
Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
Healthcare
The
David Geffen School of Medicine
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in h ...
,
School of Nursing
Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...
, a hospital in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
and twelve primary care clinics throughout Los Angeles County. In addition, the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine uses two Los Angeles County public hospitals as teaching hospitals—
Harbor–UCLA Medical Center
Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street in West Carson, an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County, California. As implied by the name, the hospital is owned by the Los Angel ...
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
. The Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center is also a major teaching and training site for the university. The UCLA Medical Center made history in 1981 when Assistant Professor Michael Gottlieb first diagnosed AIDS. UCLA medical researchers also pioneered the use of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to study brain function. Professor of Pharmacology
Louis Ignarro
Louis J. Ignarro (born May 31, 1941) is an American pharmacologist. For demonstrating the signaling properties of nitric oxide, he was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Robert F. Furchgott and Ferid Murad.
Cu ...
was one of the recipients of the 1998
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...
for discovering the signaling cascade of nitric oxide, one of the most important molecules in cardiopulmonary physiology.
The '' U.S. News & World Report'' Best Hospitals ranking for 2021 ranks UCLA Medical Center 3rd in the United States and 1st in the West. UCLA Medical Center was ranked within the top 20 in the United States for 15 out of 16 medical specialty areas examined.
Research
UCLA is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and had $1.32 billion in research expenditures in FY 2018.
Rankings
Global
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' for 2017–2018 ranks UCLA 15th in the world for academics, No.1 US Public University for academics, and 13th in the world for reputation. In 2020, it ranked 16th among the universities around the world by ''
SCImago Institutions Rankings
The SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) since 2009 has published its international ranking of worldwide research institutions, the SIR World Report. The SIR World Report is the work of the SCImago Research Group, The 2017 '' U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global University Rankings report ranked UCLA 10th in the world. The CWTS Leiden ranking of universities based on scientific impact for 2017 ranks UCLA 14th in the world. The University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) conducted by Middle East Technical University for 2016–2017 ranked UCLA 12th in the world based on the quantity, quality and impact of research articles and citations. The
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of Universities, is a ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web page ...
for 2017 ranked UCLA 11th in the world based on the presence, impact, openness and excellence of its research publications.
National
The 2021 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Colleges report ranked UCLA first among public universities. ''
The Washington Monthly
''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...
'' ranked UCLA 22nd among national universities in 2021, with criteria based on research, community service, and social mobility. The ''Money Magazine'' Best Colleges ranking for 2015 ranked UCLA 26th in the United States, based on educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings. In 2014, ''The Daily Beast''s Best Colleges report ranked UCLA 10th in the country. The ''
Kiplinger
Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice which is a subsidiary of Future plc.
Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations ...
'' Best College Values report for 2015 ranked UCLA 6th for value among American public universities. ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' and ''
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' ranked UCLA 26th among national universities in 2016. The 2013 ''Top American Research Universities'' report by the
Center for Measuring University Performance
The Center for Measuring University Performance is a research center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. ''The Center'' is best known for an annual report it produces, The Top American Research Universities, that ranks American univers ...
ranks UCLA 11th in power, 12th in resources, faculty, and education, 14th in resources and education and 9th in education. The 2015 ''Princeton Review'' College Hopes & Worries Survey ranked UCLA as the No. 5 "Dream College" among students and the No. 10 "Dream College" among parents. The
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
ranked UCLA 10th among American universities for research and development expenditures in 2014 with $948 million. In 2017 ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' ranked UCLA 1st for economic upward-mobility among 65 "elite" colleges in the United States.
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
14th, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (HSSEAS) 16th, the Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health 10th, and the School of Nursing 16th. The QS Global 200 MBA Rankings report for 2015 ranks the Anderson School of Management 9th among North American business schools. The 2014 ''Economist'' ranking of Full-time MBA programs ranks the Anderson School of Management 13th in the world. The 2014 ''Financial Times'' ranking of MBA programs ranks the Anderson School 26th in the world. The 2014 ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' ranking of Full-time MBA programs ranks the Anderson School of Management 11th in the United States. The 2014 ''Business Insider'' ranking of the world's best business schools ranks the Anderson School of Management 20th in the world. The 2014 Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking ranks the Anderson School of Management 15th in the United States. In 2015, career website Vault ranked the Anderson School of Management 16th among American business schools, and the
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
15th among American law schools. In 2015, financial community website QuantNet ranked the Anderson School of Management's Master of Financial Engineering program 12th among North American financial engineering programs.
The ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Online Programs report for 2016 ranked the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (HSSEAS) 1st among online graduate engineering programs.
Departmental
Departments ranked in the national top ten by the 2016 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Graduate Schools report are Clinical Psychology (1st), Fine Arts (2nd), Psychology (2nd), Medical School: Primary Care (6th), Math (7th), History (9th), Sociology (9th), English (10th), Political Science (10th), and Public Health (10th).
Departments ranked in the global top ten by the 2016 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global Universities report are Arts and Humanities (7th), Biology and Biochemistry (10th), Chemistry (6th), Clinical Medicine (10th), Materials Science (10th), Mathematics (7th), Neuroscience and Behavior (7th), Psychiatry/Psychology (3rd) and Social Sciences and Public Health (8th).
Departments ranked in the global top ten by the '' Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (ARWU) for 2015 are Mathematics (8th) and Computer Science (9th).
Departments ranked in the global top ten by the ''QS World University Rankings'' for 2020 are English Language & Literature (9th), Linguistics (10th), Modern Languages (7th), Medicine (7th), Psychology (6th), Mathematics (9th), Geography (5th), Communications & Media Studies (13th), Education (11th) and Sociology (7th).
Academic field
Academic field rankings in the global top ten according to the '' Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (ARWU) for 2015 are Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy (10th).
Academic field rankings in the global top ten according to the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' for 2014–2015 include Arts & Humanities (10th), Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health (9th), Engineering and Technology (9th), Physical Sciences (9th), and Social Sciences (9th).
Academic field rankings in the global top ten according to the ''
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
'' for 2015 are Arts & Humanities (10th) and Life Sciences and Medicine (10th).
Student body
The
Institute of International Education
The Institute of International Education (IIE) is a 501(c) organization which focuses on international student exchange and aid, foreign affairs, and international peace and security. IIE creates programs of study and training for students, educa ...
ranked UCLA the American university with the seventh-most international students in 2016 (behind
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie may refer to:
People
*Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan
Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie
* Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyte ...
, and
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
). In 2015, ''Business Insider'' ranked UCLA 10th among American universities with the most students hired by
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...
companies. In 2015, research firm PitchBook ranked UCLA 9th in the world for venture capital raised by undergraduate alumni, and 11th in the world for producing the most MBA graduate alumni who are entrepreneurs backed by venture capital.
Library system
UCLA's library system has over nine million books and 70,000 serials spread over twelve libraries and eleven other archives, reading rooms, and research centers. It is the United States' 12th largest library in number of volumes.
The first library, University Library (presently
Powell Library
Powell Library is the main college undergraduate library on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Powell Library is also known as the College Library. It was constructed from 1926 to 1929 and was one of the original f ...
), was founded in 1884. In 1910, Elizabeth Fargo became the university's first librarian. Lawrence Powell became librarian in 1944, and began a series of system overhauls and modifications, and in 1959, was named Dean of the School of Library Service. More libraries were added as previous ones filled. Page Ackerman became University Librarian in 1973 and was the nation's first female librarian of a system as large and complex as UCLA's. She oversaw the first coordinations between other UC schools, and formed a new administrative network that is still in use today. Since her retirement, the system has seen steady growth and improvement under various librarians. The present University Librarian is Virginia Steel, who took office on July 15, 2013.
Medical school admissions
According to the
Association of American Medical Colleges
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an i ...
(AAMC), UCLA supplies the most undergraduate applicants to U.S. medical schools among all American universities. In 2015, UCLA supplied 961 medical school applicants, followed by
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
with 819 and the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
with 802.
Among first-time medical school applicants who received their bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2014, 51% were admitted to at least one U.S. medical school.
Admissions
Undergraduate
''U.S. News & World Report'' rates UCLA "Most Selective" and The Princeton Review rates its admissions selectivity of 98 out of 99. 102,242 prospective freshmen applied for Fall 2017, the most of any four-year university in the United States.
Admission rates vary according to the residency of applicants. For Fall 2019, California residents had an admission rate of 12.0%, while out-of-state U.S. residents had an admission rate of 16.4% and internationals had an admission rate of 8.4%. UCLA's overall freshman admit rate for the Fall 2019 term was 12.3%.
As of 2020, the basis for selection at UCLA includes several academic and nonacademic factors. Those considered "very important" are all academic; they are rigor of secondary school record, academic
GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
, standardized test scores, and application essay(s). Those considered "important" are talent/ability, character/personal qualities, volunteer work, work experience, and extracurricular activities. Factors that are not considered at all include class rank, interviews,
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
relation, and racial/ethnic status.
Enrolled freshman for Fall 2019 had an unweighted GPA of 3.90, an
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
interquartile range of 1280–1510, and an ACT interquartile range of 27–34. The SAT interquartile ranges were 640–740 for reading/writing and 640–790 for math. Among the admitted freshman applicants for the Fall 2019 term, 43.1% chose to enroll at UCLA.
UCLA's freshman admission rate varies drastically across colleges. For Fall 2016, the College of Letters and Science had an admission rate of 21.2%, the
Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, informally known as UCLA Samueli School of Engineering or UCLA Engineering, is the school of engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). It opened as the Colle ...
(HSSEAS) had an admission rate of 12.4%, the
Herb Alpert School of Music
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, is “the first school of music to be established in the University of California system.” Established in 2007 under the purview of the U ...
School of Nursing
Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
had an admission rate of 2.2%, and the School of Theater, Film and Television had an admission rate of 4.4%.
One of the major issues is the decreased admission of
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996, prohibiting state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education. UCLA responded by shifting to a holistic admissions process starting Fall 2007. The holistic admissions process evaluates applicants based on their opportunities in high school, their personal hardships and unusual circumstances at home.
Graduate
For Fall 2020, the David Geffen School of Medicine admitted 2.9% of its applicants, making it the 8th most selective U.S. medical school. The
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, l ...
had a median undergraduate GPA of 3.82 and median
Law School Admission Test
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT; ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension as well as logical and verbal r ...
(LSAT) score of 170 for the enrolled class of 2024. The Anderson School of Management had a middle-80% GPA range of 3.1 – 3.8 and an average
Graduate Management Admission Test
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( ())) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to a graduate management ...
(GMAT) score of 711 for the enrolled MBA class of 2024.
The School of Dentistry had an average overall GPA of 3.65, an average science GPA of 3.6 and an average Dental Admissions Test (DAT) score of 22.8 for the enrolled class of 2025. The Graduate School of Nursing currently has an acceptance rate of 33%. For Fall 2020, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (HSSEAS) had a graduate acceptance rate of 27%.
Economic impact
The university has a significant impact in the Los Angeles economy. It is the fifth largest employer in the county (after Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the federal government and the City of Los Angeles) and the seventh largest in the region.
Trademarks and licensing
The UCLA trademark "is the exclusive property of the
Regents of the University of California
The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the University of California (UC), a state university sy ...
", but it is managed, protected, and licensed through UCLA Trademarks and Licensing, a division of the Associated Students UCLA, the largest student employer on campus. As such, the ASUCLA also has a share in the profits.
Due to UCLA's academic and athletic prestige, as well as the name, being associated with popular images of Southern California lifestyle, apparel with UCLA logos and insignia sells not just in the United States, but as an overseas clothing and accessories brand. High demand for UCLA apparel has inspired the licensing of its trademark to UCLA brand stores throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Since 1980, 15 UCLA stores have opened in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, and 49 are currently open in China. The newest store was opened in Kuwait. There are also stores in Mexico, Singapore, India and Europe. UCLA makes $400,000 in royalties every year through its international licensing program.
Commerce on campus
UCLA has various store locations around campus, with the main store in Ackerman Union. In addition, UCLA-themed products are sold at the gift shop of Fowler Museum at UCLA, Fowler Museum on campus.
Due to licensing and trademarks, products with UCLA logos and insignia are usually higher priced than their unlicensed counterparts. These products have popularity among visitors, who buy them as gifts and souvenirs. For certain products (such as notebooks and folders) the UCLA Store offers both licensed (logo) and unlicensed (without logo, thus cheaper) options, but for many other products the latter option is often unavailable.
Students who are part-time employed by ASUCLA at a UCLA Store or a UCLA Restaurant are offered certain discounts when they are shopping at UCLA Stores, in addition to their salary.
Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Bruins, represented by the colors True Blue (color), true blue and gold. The Bruins participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference. Two notable sports facilities serve as home venues for UCLA sports. The Bruin men's American football, football team plays home games at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, Pasadena; the team won a national title in 1954. The basketball and volleyball teams, and the women's gymnastics team compete at
Pauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...
on campus. The school also sponsors Cross country running, cross country, soccer, women's rowing (sport), rowing, golf, tennis, water polo, track and field, and women's softball.
The mascots are Joe and Josephine Bruin, and the fight songs are ''Sons of Westwood'' and ''Mighty Bruins''. The alma mater is ''Hail to the Hills of Westwood''.
When Henry Russell Sanders, Henry "Red" Sanders came to UCLA to coach football in 1949, the uniforms were redesigned. Sanders added a gold loop on the shoulders—the UCLA Stripe. The navy blue was changed to a lighter shade of blue. Sanders figured that the baby blue would look better on the field and in film. He dubbed the uniform "Powder Keg Blue", a powder blue with an explosive kick. This would also differentiate UCLA from all other UC teams, whose official colors are blue and gold.
UCLA competes in all major Division I sports and has won 128 national championships, including 119 NCAA championships. Only Stanford University has more NCAA team championships, with 126. On April 21, 2018, UCLA's women's gymnastics team defeated Oklahoma Sooners to win its 7th NCAA National Championship as well as UCLA's 115th overall team title. Most recently, UCLA's women's soccer team defeated Florida State to win its first NCAA National Championship along with women's tennis who defeated North Carolina to win its second NCAA National title ever. UCLA's softball program is also outstanding. Women's softball won their NCAA-leading 12th National Championship, on June 4, 2019. The women's water polo team is also dominant, with a record 7 NCAA championships. Notably, the team helped UCLA become the first school to win 100 NCAA championships overall when they won their fifth on May 13, 2007.
The men's water polo team won UCLA's 112th, 113th, and 114th national championships, defeating USC in the championship game three times: on December 7, 2014, on December 6, 2015, and on December 3, 2017. On October 9, 2016, the top-ranked men's water polo team broke the NCAA record for consecutive wins when they defeated UC Davis for their 52nd straight win. This toppled Stanford's previous record of 51 consecutive wins set in 1985–87. The men's water polo team has become a dominant sport on campus with a total of 11 national championships.
Among UCLA's 118 championship titles, some of the more notable victories are in UCLA Bruins men's basketball, men's basketball. Under legendary coach John Wooden, UCLA men's basketball teams won 10 NCAA championships, including a NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship#Champions, runners-up and locations, record seven consecutive, in 1964, 1965, 1967–1973, and 1975, and an 11th was added under then-coach Jim Harrick in 1995 (through 2008, the most consecutive by any other team is NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship#Champions, runners-up and locations, two). From 1971 to 1974, UCLA men's basketball won an unprecedented 88 consecutive games.
UCLA has also shown dominance in NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship, men's volleyball, with 19 national championships. All 19 teams were led by former coach Al Scates, which ties him with John McDonnell (coach), John McDonnell of the Arkansas Razorbacks, University of Arkansas as NCAA leader for national championships in a single sport.
UCLA is one of only six universities (Michigan Wolverines, Michigan, Stanford Cardinal, Stanford, Ohio State Buckeyes, Ohio State, California Golden Bears, California, and Florida Gators, Florida being the others) to have won national championships in all three major men's sports (baseball, basketball, and football).
USC rivalry
UCLA shares a traditional sports rivalry with the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
. UCLA teams have won the second-most NCAA Division I-sanctioned team championships, while USC has the third-most.CHAMPIONSHIPS SUMMARY Through Jan. 1, 2022 . NCAA Only Stanford University, a fellow Pac-12 member also located in California, has more than either UCLA or USC. The football rivalry is distinctive for two of the strongest conference programs located in one city. In football, UCLA has one national champion team and 16 conference titles, compared to USC's 11 national championships and 37 conference championships. The two football teams compete for annual possession of the Victory Bell (UCLA–USC), Victory Bell, the trophy of the rivalry football game.
The schools share a rivalry in many other sports, and are each the best in the nation for many. UCLA has won 19 NCAA Championships in NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship, men's volleyball, 11 in NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, men's basketball, 12 in Women's College World Series, Softball, and 7 in NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, women's water polo, the most of any school in those sports. USC has won 26 NCAA Championships in NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Men's Outdoor Track and Field, 21 in NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, men's tennis, and 12 in College World Series, baseball, also the most of any school in each respective sport.
The annual SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup compares the two schools based on their performance in 19 varsity sports; UCLA has won five times and USC has won nine times. This rivalry extends to the Olympic Games, where UCLA athletes have won 250 medals over a span of 50 years while USC athletes have won 287 over 100 years.
UCLA and USC also compete in the We Run The City 5K, an annual charity race to raise donations for Special Olympics Southern California. The race is located on the campus of one of the schools and switches to the other campus each year. USC won the race in 2013 and 2015, while UCLA won the race in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017.
Student life
The campus is located near prominent entertainment venues such as the Getty Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Santa Monica Pier. UCLA offers classical orchestras, intramural sports, and over 1000 student organizations UCLA is also home to 66 Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternities and sororities, which represent 13% of the undergraduate population. Phrateres, a non-exclusive social-service club for women was founded here in 1924 by the Dean of Women, Helen Matthewson Laughlin. Students and staff participate in dinghy sailing, surfing, windsurfing, rowing, and kayaking at the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center in Marina del Rey.
UCLA is home to a slew of performing arts groups, including an improv comedy team called Rapid Fire. UCLA's first contemporary a cappella group, Awaken A Cappella, was founded in 1992. The all-male group, Bruin Harmony, has enjoyed a successful career since its inception in 2006, portraying a collegiate a cappella group in ''The Social Network'' (2010), while the ScatterTones finished in second-place in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and third-place in 2017, 2019, and 2022. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked the ScatterTones at #2 among all ICCA-competing groups. Resonance, founded in 2012, was an ICCA finalist in 2021. Other a cappella groups include Signature, Random Voices, Medleys, YOUTHphonics, Deviant Voices, AweChords, Pitch Please, Da Verse, Naya Zaamana, Jewkbox, On That Note, Tinig Choral, and Cadenza. YOUTHphonics and Medleys are UCLA's only nonprofit service-oriented a cappella groups.
There are a variety of cultural organizations on campus, such as Nikkei Student Union (NSU), Japanese Student Association (JSA), Association of Chinese Americans (ACA), Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), Chinese Music Ensemble (CME), Chinese Cultural Dance Club (CCDC), Taiwanese American Union (TAU), Taiwanese Student Association (TSA), Hong Kong Student Society (HKSS), Hanoolim Korean Cultural Awareness Group, Samahang Pilipino, Vietnamese Student Union (VSU), and Thai Smakom. Many of these organizations have an annual "culture night" consisting of drama and dance which raises awareness of culture and history to the campus and community.
Additionally, there are over 20 LGBT pride, LGBTQ organizations on campus, including the undergraduate student organizations Queer Alliance, BlaQue, Lavender Health Alliance, OutWrite Newsmagazine, Queer and Trans in STEM (qtSTEM), and Transgender UCLA Pride (TransUP) as well as the graduate student organizations Out@Anderson, OUTLaw, and Luskin PRIDE. Notably, OutWrite, established under the name TenPercent in 1979, is the first college queer newsmagazine in the country.
UCLA operates on a Academic term, quarter calendar with the exception of the UCLA School of Law and the UCLA School of Medicine, which operate on a Academic term, semester calendar.
Greek life
There are more than 65 inter/national and local Greek-letter organizations at UCLA in six governing councils; Asian Greek Council (AGC), Interfraternity Greek Council (IFC), Latino Greek Council (LGC), Multi-Interest Greek Council (MIGC), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and Panhellenic Council (Panhel). Approximately 3,800 undergraduate students (13%) are involved in UCLA Greek life.
Asian Greek Council (AGC):
Governing body of the 4 historically Asian-founded fraternities and sororities.
Latino Greek Council (LGC):
Governing body of the 8 Latino/a founded Greek-letter organizations.
Multi-Interest Greek Council (MIGC):
Governing body of the 15 cultural-based/special-interest fraternity and sorority organizations.
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC):
Governing body of the 7 historically African American Greek-letter organizations at UCLA.
Traditions
UCLA's official charity is UniCamp, founded in 1934. It is a week-long summer camp for under-served children from the greater Los Angeles area, with UCLA volunteer counselors. UniCamp runs for seven weeks throughout the summer at Camp River Glen in the San Bernardino National Forest. Because UniCamp is a non-profit organization, student volunteers from UCLA also fundraise money throughout the year to allow these children to attend summer camp.
True Bruin Welcome begins the fall quarter to introduce new students to clubs and activities. The week includes the Day of Service for all freshmen, the Enormous Activities Fair, and the Sports Fair. At the end of move-in and the beginning of True Bruin Welcome, UCLA holds Bruin Bash, which includes a concert, dance and movie pre-release. Bruin Bash was created as a replacement for Black Sunday, a large-scale day of partying including all fraternities in North Westwood Village.
The Pediatric AIDS Coalition organizes the annual Dance Marathon in Pauley Pavilion, where thousands of students raise a minimum of $250 and dance for 26 hours to support the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Project Kindle, and the UCLA AIDS Institute. Dancers are not allowed to sit (except to use the restroom) during the marathon, literally taking a stand against pediatric AIDS, and symbolizing the suffering of affected children around the world. In 2015, Dance Marathon at UCLA raised $446,157.
During Finals Week, UCLA students participate in "Midnight Yell", where they yell as loudly as possible for a few minutes at midnight to release some stress from studying. The quarterly Underwear run, Undie Run takes place during the Wednesday evening of Finals Week, when students run through the campus in their underwear or in skimpy costumes. The run began in Fall of 2001 when a student, Eric Whitehead, wearing what he described as "really short shorts" walked around singing and playing guitar to protest the police restrictions on the Midnight Yell. With the increasing safety hazards and Police and Administration involvement, a student committee changed the route to a run through campus to Shapiro Fountain, which now culminates with students dancing in the fountain. In 2007, the route was changed again to begin at Strathmore Avenue instead of Landfair Avenue. The Undie Run has spread to other American universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University, and Syracuse University.
The Alumni Association sponsors several events, usually large extravaganzas involving huge amounts of coordination, such as the 70-year-old Spring Sing, organized by the Student Alumni Association (SAA). UCLA's oldest tradition, Spring Sing is an annual gala of student talent, which is held at either Pauley Pavilion or the outdoor Los Angeles Tennis Center. The committee bestows the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award each year to a major contributor to the music industry. Past recipients have included Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, and in 2009, Julie Andrews. The Dinner for 12 Strangers is a gathering of students, alumni, administration and faculty to network around different interests. The "Beat 'SC Bonfire and Rally" occurs the week before the USC rivalry football game.
The USAC Cultural Affairs Commission hosts the JazzReggae Festival @ UCLA, JazzReggae Festival, a two-day concert on Memorial Day weekend that attracts more than 20,000 attendees. The JazzReggae Festival is the largest, entirely student produced and run event of its kind on the West Coast.
Sigma Eta Pi and Bruin Entrepreneurs organize LA Hacks, an annual hackathon where students from around the United States come to build technology products. LA Hacks established itself as the largest hackathon in the United States when over 1500 students participated on April 11–13, 2014. LA Hacks also holds the record for the most funds raised via corporate sponsorships with $250,000 raised. Some of the tech world's most prominent people have given talks and judged projects at LA Hacks, including Evan Spiegel (Founder and CEO of Snapchat), Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit), Sam Altman (President of Y Combinator (company), Y Combinator) and Chris De Wolfe (Founder of Myspace).
Student government
The Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA) encompasses the student government and student-led enterprises at UCLA. ASUCLA has four major components: the Undergraduate Students Association, the Graduate Students Association, Student Media, and Services & Enterprises. However, in common practice, the term ASUCLA refers to the services and enterprises component. This includes the Student Store, Bookstore, Food Services, Student Union, etc. These commercial enterprises generate approximately $40 million in annual revenues. As a nonprofit corporation, the financial goal of ASUCLA is to provide quality services and programs for students. ASUCLA is governed by a student-majority Board of Directors. The Undergraduate Students Association and Graduate Students Association each appoint three members plus one alternative. In addition to the student members, there are representatives appointed by the administration, the academic senate, and the alumni association. The "services and enterprises" portion of ASUCLA is run by a professional executive director who oversees some 300 staff and 2,000 student employees.
The Graduate Students Association is the governing body for approximately 13,000 graduate and professional students at UCLA.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) is the governing body of the Undergraduate Students Association (USA) whose membership comprises every UCLA undergraduate student. , the student body had two major political slates: Bruins United and Let's Act. In the Spring 2016 election, the two competing parties were Bruins United and Waves of Change—a smaller faction that broke off of Lets Act.
USAC's fourteen student officers and commissioners are elected by members of the Undergraduate Students Association at an annual election held during Spring Quarter. In addition to its fourteen elected members, USAC includes appointed representatives of the Administration, the Alumni, and the Faculty, as well as two ex-officio members, the ASUCLA Executive Director and a student Finance Committee Chairperson who is appointed by the USA President and approved by USAC. All members of USAC may participate fully in Council deliberations, but only the elected officers, minus the USAC President may vote.
Along with the council, the student government also includes a seven-member Judicial Board, which similar to the Supreme Court, serves as the judicial branch of government and reviews actions of the council. These seven students are appointed by the student body president and confirmed by the council.
USAC's programs offers additional services to the campus and surrounding communities. For example, each year approximately 40,000 students, faculty and staff attend programs of the UCLA Campus Events Commission, Campus Events Commission, including a low-cost film program, a speakers program which presents leading figures from a wide range of disciplines, and performances by dozens of entertainers. Two to three thousand UCLA undergraduates participate annually in the more than twenty voluntary outreach programs run by the Community Service Commission. A large corps of undergraduate volunteers also participate in programs run by the Student Welfare Commission, such as AIDS Awareness, Substance Abuse Awareness, Blood donation, Blood Drives and CPR/First Aid Training.
The film program is part of the Bruin Film Society, which is also a registered organization to host advance Film screening, screenings of films during Oscars season. It hosts other events, like filmmaker panels, through its partnership with production and distribution company A24.
Media publications
UCLA Student Media is the home of UCLA's newspaper, magazines, and radio station. Most student media publications are governed by the ASUCLA Communications Board.
The ''Daily Bruin'' is UCLA's most prominent student publication. Founded in 1919 under the name ''Cub Californian'', it has since then developed into Los Angeles' third-most circulated newspaper. It has won dozens of national awards, and is regularly commended for layout and content. In 2016, the paper won two National Pacemaker Awards – one for the best college newspaper in the country, and another for the best college media website in the country. The newspaper has not been without scrutiny and controversy, and in 1954, the administration attempted to intervene with the previous policy of electing editors by a student council.
UCLA Student Media also publishes seven special-interest news magazines: ''Al-Talib'', ''Fem'', ''Ha'Am'', ''La Gente'', ''Nommo'', ''Pacific Ties'', and ''OutWrite'', a school yearbook, ''BruinLife'', and the student-run radio station, UCLA Radio.
Student groups such as The Forum for Energy Economics and Development also publish yearly journals focused on energy technologies and industries. There are also numerous graduate student-run journals at UCLA, such as ''Carte Italiane'', ''Issues in Applied Linguistics'', and ''Mediascape''. Many of these publications are available through open access. The School of Law publishes the UCLA Law Review which is currently ranked seventh among American law schools.
Housing
UCLA provides housing to over 10,000 undergraduate and 2,900 graduate students.
Most undergraduate students are housed in 14 complexes on the western side of campus, referred to by students as "The Hill". Students can live in halls, plazas, suites, or university apartments, which vary in pricing and privacy. Housing plans also offer students access to dining facilities, which have been ranked by the ''Princeton Review'' as some of the best in the United States. Dining halls are located in Covel Commons, Rieber Hall, Carnesale Commons and De Neve Plaza. In winter 2012, a dining hall called The Feast at Rieber opened to students. The newest dining hall (as of Winter Quarter 2014) is Bruin Plate, located in the Carnesale Commons (commonly referred to as Sproul Plaza). Residential cafes include Bruin Cafe, Rendezvous, The Study at Hedrick, and Cafe 1919. UCLA currently offers three years guaranteed housing to its incoming freshmen, and one year to incoming transfer students. There are four type of housing available for students: residential halls, deluxe residential halls, residential plazas, and residential suites. Available on the hill are study rooms, basketball courts, tennis courts, and Sunset Recreational Center which includes three swimming pools.
Graduate students are housed in one of five apartment complexes. Weyburn Terrace is located just southwest of the campus in Westwood Village. The other four are roughly five miles south of UCLA in Palms and Mar Vista. They too vary in pricing and privacy. Approximately 400 students live at the University Cooperative Housing Association, located two blocks off campus.
Students who are involved in Greek life have the option to also live in Greek housing while at UCLA. Sorority houses are located east of campus on Hilgard Avenue, and fraternity houses are located west of campus throughout Westwood Village. A student usually lives with 50+ students in Greek housing.
Hospitality
Hospitality constituents of the university include departments not directly related to student life or administration. The Hospitality department manages the university's two on-campus hotels, the UCLA Guest House and the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. The 61-room Guest House services those visiting the university for campus-related activities. The department also manages the UCLA Conference Center, a 40-acre (0.2 km2) conference center in the San Bernardino Mountains near Lake Arrowhead, California, Lake Arrowhead. Hospitality also operates UCLA Catering, a vending operation, and a summer conference center located on the Westwood campus.
Chabad House
The UCLA Chabad House is a community center for Jews, Jewish students operated by the Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement. Established in 1969, it was the first Chabad House at a university.The Visual Culture of Chabad, Maya Balakirsky Katz, Cambridge University Press, 2010, page 152. In 1980, three students died in a fire in the original building of the UCLA Chabad House. The present building was erected in their memory. The building, completed in 1984, was the first of many Chabad houses worldwide designed as architectural reproductions of the residence of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. The Chabad House hosts the UCLA chapter of The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute's Sinai Scholars Society.
Healthy Campus Initiative
In January 2013, Chancellor Gene Block launched the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI), envisioned and supported by Jane and Terry Semel. The Semel HCI prioritizes the health and wellness of UCLA students, staff, and faculty by "making the healthy choice the easy choice." The goal of the initiative is to make UCLA the healthiest campus in the country, and to share best practices and research with other communities, locally and beyond.
The initiative is a campuswide, multi-year effort that champions programs such as the tobacco-free policy, expansion of campus gardens, stairwell makeovers, bicycle infrastructure improvements, healthy and sustainable dining options, and peer counseling, among others.
The UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative is credited with providing inspiration for national initiatives including the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) Healthier Campus Initiative and the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Global Food Initiative (GFI). In November 2014, UCLA was one of the 20 inaugural colleges and universities to pledge to adopt PHA's guidelines for food and nutrition, physical activity and programming over three years. The Semel HCI is a member of both the Menus of Change Research Collaborative and the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, and a contributor to The Huffington Post.
Faculty and alumni
File:Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954.jpg, Jackie Robinson, first African-American player in the Major League Baseball, MLB
File:James Franco 4, 2013.jpg, James Franco, Academy Award-nominated actor
File:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar May 2014.jpg, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, National Basketball Association, NBA all-time scoring leader
File:Sean Astin by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Sean Astin, actor
File:Arthur Ashe (cropped).jpg, Arthur Ashe, former world #1 tennis player, who won three Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles
File:Sara Bareilles 10 13 2015 (36191615226).jpg, Sara Bareilles, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter
File:Randy Newman HWOF Aug 2012 (levels adjusted).jpg, Randy Newman, singer-songwriter
File:Leonard Nimoy Mission Impossible.jpg, Leonard Nimoy, actor, who played Spock in ''Star Trek''
File:Ben Shapiro (42864830152) (cropped).jpg, Ben Shapiro, conservative political commentator
File:Stefano Bloch Faculty University of Arizona Geography, Tucson, USA 2021.jpg, Stefano Bloch, author, graffiti artist, academic
File:2016 RiP Tenacious D - Jack Black - by 2eight - 8SC8891.jpg, Jack Black, actor and comedian
File:Mayim Bialik, March 2018 (4116) (cropped).jpg, Mayim Bialik, actress and host of ''Jeopardy!''
File:Tom Bradley (1).jpg, Tom Bradley (American politician), Tom Bradley, first African-American Mayor of Los Angeles
File:Carol Burnett - 1974.jpg, Carol Burnett, actress
File:Steve Martin, 2017-08-11.jpg, Steve Martin, actor and comedian
File:Rob Reiner MFF 2016.jpg, Rob Reiner, actor and filmmaker
File:Ben Stiller May 2019.jpg, Ben Stiller, actor and comedian
File:Johnnie cochran 2001 cropped retouched.jpg, Johnnie Cochran, lawyer and civil rights activist
File:Francis Ford Coppola 2011 CC.jpg, Francis Ford Coppola, Academy Award-winning filmmaker
File:Paul Schrader Montclair Film Festival (cropped).jpg, Paul Schrader, screenwriter and film director
File:Troy Aikman 2018 PIT.png, Troy Aikman, Pro Football Hall of Fame member
File:Mark Harmon 1 edit1.jpg, Mark Harmon, actor and producer
File:George Takei Photo Op GalaxyCon Minneapolis 2019.jpg, George Takei, actor and activist
File:Kirsten Gillibrand, official photo, 116th Congress.jpg, Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York
File:James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.jpg, James Dean, actor
File:H R Haldeman, 1971 portrait.png, H.R. Haldeman, former White House Chief of Staff
File:Bill Walton 8-26-08.JPG, Bill Walton, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Fame member
File:Jimmy Conners 1994.jpg, Jimmy Connors, former world #1 tennis player, who won eight Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles
File:Mike Morhaime BlizzCon 2007.jpg, Michael Morhaime, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment
File:Jim Morrison 1969.JPG, Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors
File:TimRobbinsTIFFSept2012.jpg, Tim Robbins, Academy Award-winning actor
File:Russell Westbrook (March 21, 2022) (cropped).jpg, alt=, Russell Westbrook, National Basketball Association, NBA all-time leader in triple-doubles
File:Sam Mewis (49630387222).jpg, alt=, Sam Mewis, professional soccer player for United States women's national soccer team, USWNT and Kansas City Current, KCCFC
File:Abby Dahlkemper May19.jpg, alt=, Abby Dahlkemper, professional soccer player for United States women's national soccer team, USWNT and San Diego Wave FC
File:Jessie Fleming, UCLA midfielder.jpg, alt=, Jessie Fleming, professional soccer player for Canada women's national soccer team, CANWNT and Chelsea F.C. Women
As of October 2021, 28 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with UCLA: 12 professors, 8 alumni and 10 researchers (three overlaps).
Two other faculty members winning the Nobel Prize were Bertrand Russell and Al Gore, who each had a short stay at UCLA.
The alumni Nobel laureates include Richard Heck (Chemistry, 2010); Elinor Ostrom (Economic Sciences, 2009); and Randy Schekman (Physiology or Medicine, 2013). Fifty-two UCLA professors have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships, and eleven are MacArthur Fellows Program, MacArthur Foundation Fellows. Mathematics professor Terence Tao was awarded the 2006 Fields Medal.
Geography professor Jared Diamond won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Guns, Germs, and Steel''. Two UCLA history professors have each won 2008 Pulitzer Prizes for general nonfiction and history. Saul Friedländer, noted scholar of the Nazi Holocaust, won the prize for general nonfiction for his 2006 book, ''The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939–1945'', and Daniel Walker Howe for his 2007 book, ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848''.
A number of UCLA alumni are notable politicians. In the State of Hawaii, Ben Cayetano ('68), became the first Filipino American to be elected Governor of a U.S. state. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Henry Waxman ('61, '64) represented California's 30th congressional district and was Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. U.S. Representative Judy Chu ('74) represents California's 32nd congressional district and became the first Chinese American woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 2009. Kirsten Gillibrand ('91) is U.S. Senator from the State of New York (state), New York and former U.S. Representative for New York's 20th congressional district. UCLA boasts two Mayor of Los Angeles, Mayors of Los Angeles: Tom Bradley (American politician), Tom Bradley (1937–1940), the city's only African-American mayor, and Antonio Villaraigosa ('77), who served as mayor from 2005 to 2013. Nao Takasugi was the mayor of Oxnard,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and the first Asian-American California assemblyman. Azadeh Kian, PhD at UCLA and Director of social sciences at University of Paris, is a prominent expert on Iranian politics.
H. R. Haldeman ('48) and John Ehrlichman ('48) are among the most infamous alumni because of their activities during the 1972 Watergate Scandal.
Ben Shapiro (BA '04) is an American conservative political commentator, nationally syndicated columnist, author, radio talk show host, and attorney. He is the editor-in-chief at ''The Daily Wire''.
Michael Morhaime (BA '90), Allen Adham (BA '90) and Frank Pearce (businessman), Frank Pearce (BA '90) are the founders of Blizzard Entertainment, developer of the award-winning ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'' and ''Diablo (series), Diablo'' computer game franchises. Tom Anderson (MA '00) is a co-founder of the social networking website Myspace. Computer scientist Vint Cerf ('70, '72) is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist at
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
and the person most widely considered the "father of the Internet." Henry Samueli ('75) is co-founder of Broadcom Corporation and owner of the Anaheim Ducks. Susan Wojcicki (MBA '98) is the CEO of YouTube. Travis Kalanick is one of the founders of Uber. Guy Kawasaki (MBA '79) is one of the earliest employees at Apple Inc., Apple. Nathan Myhrvold is the founder of Microsoft Research.
Bill H. Gross, Bill Gross (MBA '71) co-founded Pacific Investment Management (PIMCO). Laurence Fink (BA '74, MBA '76) is chairman and CEO of the world's largest money-management firm BlackRock. Donald Prell (BA '48) is a venture capitalist and founder of ''Datamation'' computer magazine. Ben Horowitz (MS '90) is a co-founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
UCLA alumni have also achieved prominence in the arts and entertainment. John Williams is laureate conductor at the Boston Pops Orchestra and Academy Award-winning composer of the ''Star Wars'' film score. Martin Sherwin ('71) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for ''American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer''. Actors Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, James Franco, George Takei, Mayim Bialik, Sean Astin, Holland Roden, Danielle Panabaker, and Milo Ventimiglia are also UCLA alumni. Popular music artists Sara Bareilles, The Doors, Linkin Park, and Maroon 5 all attended UCLA. Ryan Dusick of Maroon 5 majored in English. Giada De Laurentiis is a program host at Food Network and former chef at Spago. Greg Graffin, lead singer of punk rock band Bad Religion, earned a master's degree in geology at UCLA, and used to teach a course on evolution there. Carol Burnett was the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2013 (also winner of Emmys, a Peabody Award, Peabody and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005). Francis Ford Coppola ('67) was the director of the gangster film trilogy ''The Godfather'', The Outsiders (film), ''The Outsiders'' starring Tom Cruise, and the Vietnam War film ''Apocalypse Now'' and Dustin Lance Black is the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the film Milk (2008 American film), ''Milk''.
Meb Keflezighi ('98) is the winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon and the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon. The UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA men's basketball team has produced Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Fame players such as Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as well as current NBA players Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook. Noted UCLA Bruins baseball, Bruins baseball players include Troy Glaus, Chase Utley, Brandon Crawford, Gerrit Cole, and Trevor Bauer. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (outfielder), Dave Roberts won World Series titles as a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox and in 2020 as manager of the Dodgers.
UCLA also boasts an excellent military background, with hundreds of alumni serving their nation. Carlton Skinner was a U.S. Coast Guard Commander who racially integrated that service at the end of World War II on the ''Sea Cloud''. He was also the first civilian governor of Guam. Francis B. Wai is, to date, the only Chinese-American and the first Asian-American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II. UCLA also lost an alumnus in early 2007 when Second Lieutenant Mark Daily was killed in Mosul, Iraq after his HMMWV was hit by an IED. Lieutenant Daily's service is marked by a plaque located on the northern face of the Student Activities Center (SAC), where the ROTC halls are currently located.
UCLA's faculty and alumni have won a number of awards including:
* 105 Academy Awards
* 278 Emmy Awards
* 1 Fields Medal
* 3 Turing Awards
* 11 Fulbright Program, Fulbright Scholars (since 2000)
* 78 Guggenheim Fellows
* 50 Grammy Awards
* 12 MacArthur Fellows
* 1 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
* 10 National Medal of Science, National Medals of Science
* 16 Nobel Laureates
* 3 Presidential Medal of Freedom, Presidential Medals of Freedom
* 1 Pritzker Prize in Architecture
* 3 Pulitzer Prizes
* 1 Rome Prize in Design
* 12 Rhodes Scholars
* 1 Medal of Honor
* 2 Mitchell Scholarship, Mitchell Scholars
As of August 1, 2016, the top three places where UCLA alumni work are Kaiser Permanente with 1,459+ alumni, UCLA Health System, UCLA Health with 1,127+ alumni, and
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
Image of UCLA on a zoning map of Los Angeles, 1927 . Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
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