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Dr.
Ralph J. Bunche
(1904-1971)
| Ralph Johnson
Bunche was born in Detroit and, after his parents' death when
Bunche was in his early teens, was reared in Los Angeles by
his maternal grandmother. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi
Beta Kappa from UCLA in 1927 and completed a doctorate in
Political Science at Harvard in 1934. Bunche served as a
professor and founding head of the Political Science
Department at Howard University from 1928 to 1941, at which
point he entered government service as an analyst with the
Office of Strategic Services. In 1944, he became an advisor to
the State Department and ultimately the U.S. delegation to the
1945 San Francisco conference that drafted the charter of the
new United Nations Organization. In 1946 Bunche joined the
United Nations Secretariat and in 1948 became chief mediator
between the Israelis and Palestinians. For his efforts, Bunche
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1950. Until his death
in 1971, Bunche held additional senior positions at the UN,
including Under Secretary for Special Political Affairs. |
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