UCLA
The Optimists
There are people who see things as they are. And there are those who see things as they could be. For nearly a century, UCLA has been home to the dreamers. People come to these sun-drenched grounds not to be famous but to be great. They become innovators and influencers. Groundbreakers and nation builders. The ones who change the game, the hearts and minds, and the world. Welcome to the Class of Optimists.
Agnes De Mille
Class of 1926She moved audiences by
making dance matter.
American choreographer and innovator in the field, Agnes de Mille's legacy can still be felt on the stage and screen to this day. She came to UCLA to study English and obtain a strong liberal arts education. Graduating Cum Laude at just 19, here she gained a deep respect for teaching and found a love for the humanities—especially great literature. Storytelling and a passion for instruction would become defining attributes to her approach. Before de Mille, dance was mostly spectacle. After de Mille, through her works like Rodeo, Oklahoma and Carousel, dance became an intricate part of the narrative. Her choreography not only conveyed the emotional dimensions of the characters, it enhanced the plot. The way her dancers moved reflected their inner angst and turmoil, instead of simply focusing on a dancer's physical technique. She moved dancers in new ways, and in turn, moved audiences.
How will you move people? Footage provided by Thought Equity Motion.
Anna Lee Fisher
Class of 1971, MD 1976, MS 1987Some working moms
love their commute.
Chemist, medical doctor and NASA astronaut, Anna Lee Fisher became the first mother in space when she embarked on mission STS-51A on the space shuttle Discovery. Prior to orbiting the earth, Fisher came to a place that was a hub for pushing into new frontiers—UCLA. Here she earned her BS and a doctor of medicine degree. After logging 192 spaceflight hours, Fisher returned to UCLA to get her MS in chemistry. Since then, Fisher has taken time away to raise a family, returned to NASA to serve as Branch Chief of Operations, Training and Programs in the Astronaut Office, and is currently awaiting an assignment as a crewmember aboard the International Space Station.
What new heights will you reach? Footage provided by NASA on behalf of Anna Lee Fisher.
Francis Ford Coppola
MFA 1967He took a stand that
kept us in our seats.
Writer, director and producer, Francis Ford Coppola is in the pantheon of great American filmmakers. He is the poster boy for New Hollywood—a movement that brought about unconventional ideas that challenged contemporary filmmaking. His films have pushed the envelope in every way. With The Godfather, he revolutionized the gangster flick from a simple, violent spectacle to a portrayal of mobsters with psychological depth and complexity. In Apocalypse Now, he risked financial disaster to give us not only one of the most haunting, lasting visions of the Vietnam War, but captured the sentiment of an entire nation. At UCLA, he earned a Master of Fine Art in Film and would go on to epitomize the ethos of UCLA's School of Film, Theater and Television: that you can achieve great commercial success, but do it with a core of independence and the passion of a personal filmmaker.
How will you change people's views? Scenes from Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse, copyright 1991 ZM Productions, All Rights Reserved. Scenes from "Close-Up on The Conversation", copyright 2011 Zoetrope Corporation, All Rights Reserved.
Greg Ginn
Class of 1975Angst, social isolation,
and dissolution never
sounded so good.
As the founder, guitarist and driving influence behind Black Flag, Greg Ginn defined the West Coast Punk sound. Ginn came to UCLA in 1971 and found a place where ideas, no matter how radical, were given a platform. This openness to non-conformity perhaps played a role in the band's unique brand of angst—delivering thought-provoking messages in musical arrangements that incorporated elements of heavy metal, freestyles, jazz, breakbeat and classical music. Given few opportunities to perform in Southern California, Ginn worked tirelessly to organize the band's own gigs and arrange appearances. With his brother and fellow UCLA alum, Raymond Pettibon, they created the band's iconography and promotion techniques, making them pioneers in the underground DIY punk movement. Since the band's breakup, Ginn formed his own label and has produced such bands as Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth.
What will your calling sound like? Footage provided by SST Records.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Class of 1985No matter the obstacle,
she found a way
forward.
One of the most storied female athletes in UCLA's and competitive sport's history, Jackie Joyner-Kersee grew up in hardscrabble conditions in East St. Louis searching for a female role model. She found two in UCLA athletes Evelyn Ashford and Ann Meyers. Seeing UCLA award Meyers the first female athletic scholarship in NCAA history gave Kersee the belief that she could go somewhere too. And come to UCLA she did, starring in both track & field and women's basketball. Then competing in four Olympic games, one while she was attending UCLA, and taking home three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. She still ranks among the all-time greatest woman athletes in the heptathlon and the long jump, and was named "The Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century" by Sports Illustrated. Since retiring from competition, Kersee has focused on philanthropic efforts as well as serving on the board for USA Track & Field—ensuring the sport continues to make great leaps forward.
What hurdles will you overcome? Footage courtesy IOC/USOC.
Jackie Robinson
UCLA 1939-1941When baseball
wouldn't let him in,
he refused to be out.
The first player to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson was more than an incredible athlete. He was a literal game-changer. He showed the world that greatness is colorblind, and sometimes the real victories happen off the field. At UCLA, he was the first person to letter in four varsity sports in a single year. And while UCLA cannot claim to be the source of his athletic ability, perhaps being on the most racially integrated college football team at the time showed him that not everyone believed in barriers. Perhaps being in an environment that welcomed new ideas helped him endure the jeers, the threats, the old way of thinking with such grace, dignity and honor. UCLA didn't get Jackie Robinson into the Majors, but we certainly nurtured his belief that he could.
What barrier will you break? Footage/imagery provided by Producers Library Service, Inc. Jackie RobinsonTM, is a trademark of Rachel Robinson. www.jackierobinson.com.
James Dean
UCLA 1951Few rebels are so
universally admired.
Actor and cultural icon, James Dean is arguably one of the most recognized figures in youth culture, and although he died over a half of a century ago, his influence spans generations. He was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination and is still the only actor to receive two posthumous nominations—a fact made more confounding since he was only in three pictures. From Jay-Z lyrics to art and fashion, his image can still be felt in almost every arena of pop culture to this day. Before he was a legend he was a pre-law major at Santa Monica College, and then he transferred to UCLA and switched his major to drama. While studying, he was cast out of a pool of 350 actors in his first role as Malcolm in Macbeth. It's here, perhaps, that he found his cause.
How will you be remembered? Clip from "Rebel Without A Cause" used courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. James DeanTM, is a trademark of James Dean Inc. www.JamesDean.com.
James Franco
Class of 2008Some A-listers
actually get A's.
Actor, artist and filmmaker, James Franco is perhaps the face of young Hollywood. While prolific on screen and stage, Franco's lust for education has become equally famous. He started at UCLA, but dropped out after his freshman year to pursue acting. When he returned in 2006, he was thirsty for knowledge. So, he clamored to take extra credit, independent study classes. He tackled a departmental honors thesis, mentored by faculty member and novelist Mona Simpson. When UCLA awarded him his B.A. in English in June 2008, it was only the beginning. Franco set off on an almost mythic quest for education - acquiring several master's degrees in creative writing, filmmaking, poetry and design while also working on two PhDs - proving some actors can't be typecast on or off the screen.
What will be your greatest role? Footage provided by The NY Times Magazine, The New York Times Company.
James Horner
MFA 1976He proved that a film's
defining character isn't
always an actor.
Composer, orchestrator and conductor, James Horner is equally famous in the symphony house as he is in Hollywood. Horner came to UCLA to earn his masters. Studying under Paul Chihara, among others, he found an environment where even something as established and hallowed as classical music wasn't confined to set rules. This is evident in his orchestral style today, which is famous for incorporating choral, Celtic and electronic elements. Horner stayed at UCLA to teach Music Theory and went on to score over 100 films for directors such as James Cameron, Mel Gibson and Ron Howard. Titanic still remains the best selling orchestral soundtrack of all time. He has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, taking home two.
How will you make the world listen? Use of James Horner's cue "A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics" from the original motion picture soundtrack A BEAUTIFUL MIND courtesy of Universal Music Corp. and Universal Pictures, Sony/ATV, and Paramount Pictures.
John Wooden
Basketball Coach 1948-1975He turned a pyramid
into the cornerstone
of competitive sports.
Few individuals are so deeply woven into the identity of UCLA as Coach John Wooden. He led the Bruins to 10 national championships, including four undefeated seasons, two of them back-to-back. Yet he didn't measure success by winning—a notion that would probably be met with resistance at most university athletic programs. At UCLA, Wooden was free and encouraged to instill his unique coaching ethos—one that defined success as peace of mind from knowing you put forth your absolute effort, regardless of the outcome. He gave us the "Pyramid of Success," a tool designed to build players from the bottom up. With pillars like "sincerity," "patience," "industrious" and "friendship," its impact spread beyond the court and it has become as iconic as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Walton and the many players it helped shape. It seems ironic that a man who saw winning as secondary would go on to win more national championships than any other coach in college basketball history.
How will you define success? Footage/imagery provided by NCAA, Thought Equity Motion and Getty Images in cooperation with IMG.
Ralph Bunche
Class of 1927He proved you don't
have to come from
privilege to be
considered nobel.
American political scientist and diplomat, Ralph Bunche became the first person of color to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. From humble beginnings and the loss of his parents before he was 13, Bunche rose to become a brilliant student and debater. While attending UCLA, he was immersed in an environment that viewed people by their ideas, not the color of their skin. He flourished here—graduating Summa Cum Laude—and competed in track and field. He went on to become a powerful figure in the United Nations—brokering a historic peace accord that led to his Nobel Prize. Rising to Undersecretary General, Bunche continued mediating in other strife-torn regions, including the Congo, Yemen, Kashmir and Cyprus. The epitome of an optimist, when asked why he dedicated his life to such seemingly lost causes, he famously replied, "I believe in the essential goodness of my fellow man, which leads me to believe that no problem of human relations is ever insoluble."
What will be your greatest honor? Footage provided by Critical Past and Thought Equity Motion.
Vinton Cerf
MS 1970, PHD 1972For him, revolutionizing
how we communicate
just clicked.
Computer scientist and technology visionary, Vinton Cerf is considered one of the founding fathers of the Internet. He came to UCLA for his graduate studies because UCLA was one of the few places that embraced such radical new ideas in communication. While here, Cerf worked in famed Professor Leonard Kleinrock's network group that connected the first two nodes of the ARPANet—the predecessor of the modern Internet. Since then, Cerf has been a leading force in every avenue of network communications—from the U.S. Department of Defense to a top executive at Google. Currently, Cerf is leading a NASA initiative to create the first interplanetary Internet—proving that reaching for the stars isn't always an unrealistic undertaking.
How will you connect with the world? Footage/imagery provided by Singularity University and Raytheon BBN Technologies.- University of California
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