(1904 – 1971) African American diplomat. Ralph Bunche developed an internationalist’s vision during his undergraduate study at UCLA. A gifted intellectual, Bunche attended Harvard for graduate work in political science and prior to the Second World War taught at Howard University made an extensive tour of Africa and provided vital input to Gunnar Myrdal’s study of American race issues. The war propelled Bunche into international diplomatic service at the United Nations, where he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for brokering a Middle East peace agreement. At the UN Secretariat until 1971, Bunche sought to end colonialism and worked closely with all UN Secretary Generals, particularly Dag Hammarskjöld. President John F. Kennedy later awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.