Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche

Ralph Johnson Bunche was born in Detroit, and after his parents' death when Bunche was in his early teens, was raised 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 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 to the US 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 the chief mediator between the Israelis and the 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 undersecretary for special political affairs. During his long and distinguished career, Bunche inspired many, especially African Americans including Howard alumni Patricia Roberts Harris, and ambassador and cabinet secretary in two administrations; and Andrew Young, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, both of who had extraordinary careers in diplomacy and public service. Bunche continues to inspire today, both through his extraordinary record of accomplishments and through the programs of the Bunche Center.