Please read about these amazing individuals below:

Fittingly, the man the Daily Bruin once called "the greatest UCLA athlete of all time" was born in 1919, the same year that the University of California opened its "Southern Branch" in Los Angeles.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson came to UCLA in 1939 and although he only stayed in Westwood for two years, he left behind one of the most powerful and proud legacies in UCLA's storied history. And soon, "Jackie" Robinson would change the world as well. In his time at UCLA, the young man from Cairo, Georgia, won a national championship in track and field, two consecutive conference scoring titles as a basketball player, was an honorable mention All-American in football and played a little baseball, where he was so-so.

He began his career in 1944, in the Negro Leagues, because professional baseball wouldn't let a black man on the field. But three years later, Jackie Robinson did just that, breaking Major League Baseball's decades-long color barrier. Not just because he endured the jeers of his fellow players and death threats from the bigots in the stands, but because he endured it all with such grace and dignity and honor. And after he retired, he fought tirelessly for civil rights and integration in professional sports.

Robinson was as fearless after baseball as he was during it, standing on principle even if it was unpopular. He argued with Martin Luther King, admired Malcolm X, and defended Ralph Bunche from black militants. "He was the first athlete in UCLA history to letter in four sports in the same year," says UCLA Chancellor Norm Abrams, "but it is his abiding dignity and unshakable conviction that we most appreciate and that made him a true champion. The entire Bruin family treasures his legacy."

Tennis player. Born Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. on July 10,1943 in Richmond, Virginia. After studying at the University of California at Los Angeles on a tennis scholarship, Ashe became the first African American ever selected to the US Davis Cup Team in 1963 (winners 1968-70). In 1968, he won the men's championships at the inaugural US Open.

Arthur Ashe turned professional in 1969, and went on to win the Australian Open (1970) and Wimbledon (1975), where he unexpectedly defeated Jimmy Connors. He remains the only African American player ever to win the men's singles at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open.

While actively protesting apartheid in South Africa, Arthur Ashe was granted a visa in 1973 to become the first black professional to play in that country. In 1979 he retired from competition after suffering a heart attack, and wrote a history of African-American athletes, A Hard Road to Glory (3 vols, 1988).

Ashe became a spokesman for AIDS education after it was revealed in 1992 that he had contracted the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion. He died of complications from the disease on February 6, 1993.

One of UCLA's most famous alumni never took a class on the Westwood campus. Ralph Bunche was a "pioneer Bruin." His UCLA was on Vermont Avenue, when the acronym UCLA was only beginning to replace "SBUC"-Southern Branch, University of California.

Although UCLA was never segregated by race, the young Bunche had already experienced the effects of racism. He was the valedictorian of his high school class, but he was not permitted to join the citywide honor society.

It didn't take Bunche long to realize that he was well-suited for the academic environment. "My zest for producing, for achieving, for seeking to excel, quickly sharpened at UCLA, as did my intellectual curiosity," Bunche recalled. "I wanted to learn and I enjoyed learning. That I had no idea of what career I would wish to follow bothered me not in the least. I was in a new world, an exhilarating environment, and I enjoyed it immensely."

Outside the classroom he was a student leader, an avid debater, a columnist on the student newspaper, and a basketball player. He would go on to earn his master's degree and Ph.D. from Harvard, to do research with Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal on the conditions of Blacks in the U.S., and to help write the charter for the United Nations.

In 1948, he literally risked his life on a United Nations peace-keeping mission. Count Folke Bernadotte, the mediator he had been assisting, was assassinated. Bunche stepped in and spent the next six months helping to develop armistice agreements that were signed by Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

In 1950 Bunche was persuaded to accept the Nobel Peace Prize; he initially refused, feeling the honor belonged not to an individual, but to the United Nations. He spoke that year at UCLA's commencement. In 1969, he returned to UCLA for the dedication of Bunche Hall.

"UCLA is where it all began for me, where, in a sense, I began," he told the audience at the dedication. "College for me was the genesis and the catalyst."

One of the most memorable moments of the 20th century was when Florence Griffith Joyner became an Olympic track and field champion during the 1988 Seoul games. It was then that the phenomenon known as "Flo Jo" emerged.

With her flashy one-legged running outfits, long hair, and brightly painted fingernails, she captured four medals and the attention of the world with her speed, grace, and charm. Florence went to Jordan High School in Los Angeles where she set school records in the sprint and long jump. After graduating in 1978 she enrolled at California State University, Northridge. She later transferred to UCLA.

Athletically, Flo Jo elevated women's track to a higher level as she broke world records in the 100 and 200-meter events. This feat earned her the title "World's Fastest Woman." Perhaps as astonishing was Flo Jo's range of talents outside the track realm. She excelled in the fields of fashion design, acting, writing, sports casting as well as being a wife and mother. One of her most impressive achievements was her appointment as co-chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She was an eloquent spokeswoman who shared her expertise and enthusiasm for fitness with the nation.

Flo Jo's success is especially great when her beginnings are considered. She began her life in the projects of South Central Los Angeles. The values of independence and individualism were instilled in her household from an early age. When she was seven, Florence began running. She was a star athlete by adolescence, as well as a straight-A student. Flo Jo was a true role model. Her excellence in all endeavors inspired fans to achieve their own great heights. The image of Flo Jo, victorious, waving the American flag at the Seoul Olympics stands as a testament to this legend that defined the "American Dream."

Audacious faith was, indeed, pure Bradley. In high school, he ignored his guidance counselor's advice to stick to vocational classes. Instead, he pursued his dream of going to college and in 1936 won a scholarship to UCLA. As a Bruin he excelled not only scholastically but as a track star.

Beginning his career as a police officer, then as a lawyer, Bradley was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1963. Six years later, he challenged Mayor Sam Yorty in a contentious election heavy with racist rhetoric. Bradley lost. In 1973 he ran again and this time broke through the color line, the first African-American mayor of a major U.S. city. Bradley went on to serve five terms. He was 80 when he died in September 1998.

Bradley set a different tone for Los Angeles politics. He was credited as a coalition builder and unapologetic civic booster who expanded social services to the urban poor and spurred economic growth. Under his watch, Los Angeles gained international prominence.

A man of quiet determination, Bradley spent a lifetime bridging racial barriers and used his skills to forge extraordinary coalitions, most notably between blacks and Jews and between labor and business. He presided over a period of enormous growth in Los Angeles, leaving the gleaming downtown skyline of Bunker Hill and the start of a subway and light-rail system as the most tangible of his legacies.

Of the five Black alumni whose names appear on campus buildings, James LuValle is the least known. Arthur Ashe and Jackie Robinson enjoy the fame of athletes; Ralph Bunche and Tom Bradley distinguished themselves in public service. But who was James LuValle?

In 1936, most UCLA students could answer that question. That year, the charismatic LuValle was recognized with the Jake Gimball Award for being the outstanding all-round senior. A Phi Beta Kappa in chemistry who paid his way through school with a Regents' scholarship and a job in the chemistry lab, LuValle was also an athlete of note. He competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the 400 meter dash.

After touring Europe with other Olympic athletes, LuValle returned to UCLA to earn his master's degree in chemistry and physics. He was chosen first president of the Associated Graduate Students - the forerunner of today's Graduate Students Association. That's one reason LuValle Commons, the first student center on campus designed primarily for the use of graduate students, was named in his honor.

Other Notables featured throughout our site
Diane Watson - U.S. Congresswoman
Earl Gales, Jr. - Chairman, Earl E. Gales Jr., Jenkins/Gales & Martinez (JGM) Architecture Firm
Elaine Brown - Activist, writer, singer and former chairperson of the Black Panther Party
Rev. James Lawson - Reverend, activist and former president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Gail Wyatt - Associate Director, UCLA AIDS Institute, clinical psychologist and professor
Johnnie Cochran - Famed attorney and activist
Brenda Ross-Dulan - Senior Vice President and Regional President - Wells Fargo Bank
Frank Stephens - Frank Stephens, UCLA Academic Advisor and former UCLA Athlete
Gabrielle Union - Actress
Chris Spencer - Actor, comedian, writer, director and producer
Bridgette M. Taylor - Partner at Dreier, Stein & Kahan, LLP's Entertainment & Media Department
Jaleel White - Actor
Floyd McKissick - Lawyer, activist and former national director of Congress of Racial Equality
Angela Davis - Author, activist, professor and former member of the Black Panther Party