COVER STORY
WE ARE ONE UCLA
____
The Faces of True Bruin Values
From cultivating belonging to championing excellence and leading with integrity, three Bruins embody the renewed set of values at the heart of UCLA.
ÁLVARO CASTILLO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMANDA FRIEDMAN
_______
Family Affair
New Bruin head football coach Bob Chesney is bringing a lot of excitement — and optimism — this season.
SEAN BRENNER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILY SHUR
_______
The New BFFs: Bruin Friends and Founders
They met as undergrads at UCLA. Bonded as budding entrepreneurs. Now, these young UCLA alumni are mining their dorm-room dreams to show they (literally) mean business.
JONATHAN RIGGS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY YURI HASEGAWA
_______
6 Degrees of Bruins
Across alumni, staff, students and faculty, the strong interconnection of the Bruin ecosystem will leave you shocked.
FIONA RUANE ’26
FEATURES
Second Act
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television alumna Yvonne Caro Caro is now starring on a very different kind of stage: the UCLA Simulation Center, where she helps train the physicians of the future.
MADELINE ADAMO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN SHUDE
_______
The Tao of Tao
In a faculty brimming with brilliant people, Terence Tao — the “Mozart of Math” — remains one of the sharpest minds at UCLA. A conversation.
STUART WOLPERT
_______
What’s Really Happening With Immigration?
Facing incredible hurdles, dogged Bruin scholars are digging out data and shining a light to uncover the truth about what the current federal crackdown on immigration actually means for our communities, for the country and for the future.
DELAN BRUCE | ILLUSTRATIONS BY LYNE LUCIEN
_______
The Write Stuff
The son of immigrants, Kwame Granderson ’92 came to UCLA and discovered his love for the written word. Now he’s passing that on, in a most meaningful way.
JEFF GILES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTHA GALVAN
_______
The Secret Lives of UCLA Professors
Every superhero lives a double life — and the multitalented members of UCLA’s faculty are no exception. Learn about the passions they explore beyond the walls of the classroom.
MELANIE MANNARINO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREGG SEGAL
_______
The Night I Went Blind
The sudden shock of losing my eyesight sent me reeling. Until the UCLA community rallied around me to illuminate the path ahead.
JOHN HARLOW | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE PUGLIESE
BRUINOLOGY
The blue, the gold, and everything in between
Written in Stone
For four decades, UCLA archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg M.Ed. ’77, Ph.D. ’86 has listened for the voices of the people who built Easter Island’s famed statuary. What she found beneath the sculptures is challenging what we know about one of history’s most misunderstood civilizations.
POLLY BLITZER
_______
From Westwood to Harlem
The world-famous Globetrotters turn 100 this year. What you may not know? How Bruin basketball has intersected with the game’s greatest showmen over the past century.
SRIDHAR PAPPU
_______
A Treasure Hunt Across the Galaxy
Professor Rene Ong is looking for an invisible particle as old as time. If he can find it — or even just the traces it leaves behind — we would be one step closer to understanding just how the universe really works.
HOLLY OBER AND JOHN HARLOW
_______
Little Mama’s House
Professor Jorja Leap ’78, M.S.W. ’80, Ph.D. ’88 is on a mission to make social science research more of a spectator sport.
MALCOLM BURNLEY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID ESQUIVEL
_______
26 Random People You Had No Idea Went to UCLA
Some walked away with a diploma; others merely passed through on their way to renown. Meet the Bruins you had no idea were ever Bruins.
FIONA RUANE ’26
_______
Following the Leaders
In his new book, Pulitzer Prize–winning UCLA geographer and physiologist Jared Diamond offers a timely, evidence-driven analysis of leaders throughout history. Who succeeds, who fails — and why?
JOHN HARLOW
WE ARE ONE UCLA
Shaping UCLA’s Second Century in Westwood
Why investing now in a future we may not live to see fully realized is the only way to preserve an exemplary institution.
CHANCELLOR JULIO FRENK
