UCLA famous alumni

Well-known Bruins in sports, entertainment and science

UCLA famous alumni include athletes like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, singers like Sara Bareilles, scientists like Richard F. Heck and many more. To read the stories of notable UCLA alumni, visit the UCLA Alumni website, linked through the button below.

Sports: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly named Lew Alcindor, had an illustrious college and professional basketball career. According to his webpage on the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, Abdul-Jabbar won college player of the year three times and led UCLA to three NCAA titles in a row between 1967 to 1969. After college, he went on to have a successful 20-year career with the National Basketball Association (NBA), earning him the title of NBA's rookie of the year in 1970 and becoming a six-time playoff Most Valuable Player (MVP).

To learn more about UCLA famous alumni in sports, visit the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, linked in the button below.

Entertainment: Sara Bareilles

Out of all the UCLA famous alumni in entertainment, Sara Bareilles is arguably one of the most well-known musicians. Bareilles is a famous singer and songwriter, best known for her songs “Love Song” and “Brave.” She also wrote the music for the 2015 Broadway musical “Waitress,” which earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.

As a UCLA student, Bareilles was also a musical force to be reckoned with; according to the UCLA Alumni Spring Sing History webpage, she won Spring Sing three times as a solo act and a few more times with her a cappella group, Awaken A Cappella. 

To learn more about Bareilles’ Spring Sing experience, click on the link below.

Science: Richard F. Heck

Richard Heck is one of seven UCLA alumni to win a Nobel Prize. Heck won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2010 for pioneering a method for synthesizing complex carbon molecules more efficiently. According to a UCLA Alumni profile about Heck, his technique later allowed scientists to sequence the human genome and his process has been used to produce possible anticancer drugs, fine chemicals and electronics. 

To learn more about Nobel-winning UCLA famous alumni, read the UCLA Alumni newsletter, linked in the button below.