Ralph J. Bunche was born Aug. 7, 1904, in Detroit. He attended UCLA on an athletic scholarship and graduated in 1927 as valedictorian.
Bunche earned his masters and doctorate degrees in government and international relations at Harvard, finishing in 1934.
During World War II, Bunche worked for the federal government, and in 1944 he was moved to the State Department, becoming the first black to hold a desk-level position. In the late 1940s, he helped write the United Nations charter, and he was appointed to serve on the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine in 1947, which recommended separate Jewish and Arab states.
War broke out when Arabs refused to accept the plan, and in 1948, Bunche became the U.N. chief mediator between the two sides. In 1949, his negotiations led to an armistice, and he was awarded with the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize — the first black to be given the honor.
Bunche worked with the United Nations the rest of his life, and President John F. Kennedy awarded him the Medal of Freedom in 1963. Bunche died Dec. 9, 1971.
— Michael J. Kleckner
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