More than 10,000 Bruins will cross commencement stages this season, marking the culmination of years of hard work, discovery, growth and perseverance. They come from every corner of UCLA and every corner of the world, united by a shared commitment to learning, service and making a difference.

And they are already leaving their mark on the world. Among them are future physicians advancing cancer research, engineers who built a self-playing piano capable of doing the impossible, advocates working to expand opportunity and inclusion, artists and musicians pushing creative boundaries, and scholars whose curiosity carried them across disciplines, continents and communities. Though their paths have been remarkably different, each has found a way to turn passion into purpose.

As the graduates of the class of 2026 prepare to turn their tassels and take the next step — in classrooms, laboratories, hospitals, studios, startups, public service and beyond — we are proud to share just a few of their stories. Together, they reflect the talent, creativity, resilience and spirit that continue to define UCLA.

Read our story on the UCLA College's June 12 commencement ceremony with keynote speaker Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

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From memory to medicine: A son’s journey toward a cure

For Aidan Le, the fight against cancer is more than a scientific challenge. The UCLA senior, who will graduate with a degree in neuroscience, lost his mother to the ovarian cancer when he was 8 years old. Through research at UCLA and beyond, he has been helping advance efforts to better understand and treat the disease that shaped his family's life.

Le found researchers and mentors at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center who helped transform his personal motivation into scientific discovery. He immersed himself in ovarian cancer research, studying how cancer cells communicate and exploring potential therapies. He gained experience in academia and industry, including an internship at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he helped investigate new approaches to translating scientific discoveries into life-changing treatments for patients.

Now, Le has been accepted into the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute for a Ph.D. program in medical science and has been offered prestigious research opportunities at MIT and Boston’s Dana–Farber Cancer Institute His long-term goal? To become a physician-scientist who leads discoveries in the lab and brings them directly to patients, especially those in marginalized communities who often face the steepest barriers to care.

“That’s my hope,” Le said. “I don’t know that the future holds for sure, but I know my mom is looking over me. It will be extremely rewarding to achieve this knowing that I did it all for her.”

Read more about Aidan Le on UCLA Newsroom.

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From the lab to the runway to a Fulbright, this graduate is just getting started

One week, Amadu Tadesse might be conducting cancer research in a UCLA laboratory and the next be walking a fashion runway or competing on the soccer field. Now, as he prepares to graduate with a double major in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and African American studies, Tadesse is adding another chapter to an already remarkable journey: a Fulbright year in Ethiopia.

Drawn to research as a sophomore, Tadesse joined the lab of physician-scientist Steven Jonas and quickly distinguished himself with an eagerness to learn and an instinct for asking big questions. Over three years, he progressed from having never handled a pipette to leading research projects focused on rare pediatric cancers and gene-editing technologies.

In Ethiopia, Tadesse hopes to deepen his connection to his family's roots while helping establish the country's first national pediatric cancer registry. After that, he'll begin an M.D.–Ph.D. program, combining research and medicine in a career dedicated to improving lives.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to build a deeper connection with my family there while doing something that could have a positive impact on their lives," Tadesse says.

Read more about Amadu Tadesse on UCLA Newsroom.

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Graduating senior helped build community and belonging for international students

Thousands of students come to UCLA from around the world each year. Helping them feel connected, supported and heard became a defining mission for Keya Tanna during her time on campus. The psychology major and graduating senior — born in India, raised in Oman and most recently from Dubai — spent the past year representing international students through the Undergraduate Students Association Council, working to strengthen community and advocate for their needs.

Tanna entered student government without prior USAC experience but quickly made an impact. During a year marked by uncertainty for international students nationwide, she authored a resolution urging UCLA to protect these students and organized events that helped Bruins build connections, access resources and find a sense of belonging. From town halls to dance classes, her efforts focused on bringing students together while making information and support more accessible.

Drawn to UCLA by its global outlook and diverse communities, Tanna found opportunities to create the kind of welcoming environment she always wanted. And the globetrotting will be on the move again this fall, when she begins a master’s program in health psychology at University College London.

“I was ecstatic and grateful for the opportunity to study at UCLA and learn from faculty I had admired for a long time,” she says. “Being far from family and everything familiar was difficult at times, but it also pushed me to grow a lot as a person and build a sense of community here.”

Read more about Keya Tanna on UCLA Newsroom.

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2 graduating students just built a self-playing piano that can do the impossible

Most engineering projects don't end with a player piano slamming all 88 keys at once. But for Karina Bender and George Grigoryan, graduating seniors at the Samueli School of Engineering, that was exactly the goal. Over the course of more than a year, the pair designed and built a self-playing piano in the Samueli Engineering Makerspace, transforming an ambitious idea into what one faculty member called the most impressive project in the space's nearly eight-year history.

The project combined mechanical engineering, electronics, software and plain persistence. After countless redesigns and moments when they wondered whether the piano would ever work — “there’s no way,” Grigoryan recalls thinking — the breakthrough finally came when it played a recognizable rendition of Chopin's "Revolutionary Étude."

"When I first heard music come out of the piano, I was thrilled," Grigoryan said. "I never had one of those 'yippee!' moments when something was done when I was like, 'Oh, this is so cool!'"

But the duo wasn't satisfied with simply making a piano play itself. They also engineered the system to do something no human can: play all 88 keys simultaneously. “And it doesn’t sound good — but it sounded amazing,” Bender says.

This fall, Bender will begin an M.D.–Ph.D. program through USC and Caltech, while Grigoryan heads to UC San Diego for graduate school. Their piano, meanwhile, will remain in the Makerspace — and continue to inspire future Bruins to dream a little bigger.

Read more about Karina Bender and George Grigoryan on UCLA Newsroom.

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Bringing it all back home: Children of farmworkers and the health of the communities that raised them

"I always wanted to leave the clinic crying of happiness because I was doing exactly what I wanted to do as a medical student."

For Karla Murillo, medicine has always been personal. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant and a first-generation college student from Bakersfield recalls her mother work demanding farming jobs in the Central Valley and navigating the health challenges that come with that physically taxing labor.

Denise Jimenez-Tapia grew up less than 15 miles away, in Lakeport, California, also a first-gen student and child of farmworkers, remembers waking at 3 a.m. to help her father pick cherries as a young teenager. She knows firsthand the barriers many families in her community face when it comes to accessing health care.

As students at the David Geffen School of Medicine — and newly graduated doctors — both were determined to create opportunities not only for themselves but for others from backgrounds like their own.

Murillo, a quadruple Bruin — she earned two undergraduate degrees and a master's in epidemiology in addition to her M.D. — has spent years combining medicine, public health and advocacy. Through UCLA's PRIME–LA (Programs in Medical Education), she has focused on addressing health disparities and mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds. And through the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic, she has helped expand access to vision care for underserved populations, including immigrant workers and low-income communities.

Jimenez-Tapia, also PRIME–LA participant who is also earning a master’s in business and administration, built lasting connections and while developing the skills needed to care for patients in underserved communities. She hopes to use those skills to run a nonprofit to address language barriers, health care access disparities and improve the overall health of farmworking communities.

Both Murillo and Jimenez-Tapia will remain at UCLA Health for their residencies, Murillo in ophthalmology and Jimenez-Tapia in family medicine.

“Medicine is all about sacrifice. I really learned sacrifice from our farmworkers and from my parents,” Jiminez-Tapia says. “I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't come from where I came from. My passion for serving farm workers has been my anchor. My education is my parents’ ultimate harvest.”

Read more about Denise Jimenez-Tapia on the UCLA Health Newsroom and watch a video about Karla Murillo.  

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UCLA student masters balance beams, bar graphs and bedazzlers

UCLA’s world-class athletes typically come to campus with a laser focus on their sport. Powerhouse gymnast Madisyn Anyimi — “Maddie” to friends and fans alike — arrived fully focused on her education. “One of the big things that made me want to come to UCLA was the standout academics,” she said, pointing to the mathematics department.

Anyimi, who will graduate with a degree in applied mathematics, seriously considered quitting gymnastics, and committed to UCLA without a guaranteed spot on the team. So when she got a surprise call from gymnastics head coach Janelle McDonald, the Sacramento native began to reconsider. Closer to the first day of school, she changed her mind and got a last-minute spot on the team — and she couldn’t imagine her life any other way.

Saluted for her “senior year glow-up” by her teammates, Anyimi capped off her impressive Bruin gymnastics career with career-best scores on the vault, bars and floor. She also hit her stride in the classroom, enjoying how a foundation in math could be applied to everything from the spread of disease to election results.

After she graduates, Anyimi hopes to use her mathematical talents to start a career in sports analytics. She’s been building up her coding, statistics and data science expertise. And she’s found a rewarding outlet for her creativity.

“Recently, I've taken up the hobby of bedazzling various things in my house,” she said. “I bedazzled gifts for my teammates, I bedazzled a baseball jersey. Nothing near me is safe that I think would look pretty with rhinestones.”

Read more about Madisyn Anyimi on UCLA Newsroom.

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TikTok creator reaching new audiences, including the most important: Women in her family

Karla Vasquez is cranking out content. A prolific TikTok creator, she also heads up widely followed accounts for the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships, Her Campus UCLA and the Burbank International Film Festival. “I started posting on TikTok just for fun,” Vasquez said, “and I enjoyed it. I felt like it was such a good outlet for me to express myself.”

Expression of an artistic spirit has been a part of Vasquez’s academic journey, bringing a sense of fulfillment and, at times, indecision. She considered interior design, photography and marketing before setting her course toward a degree in communications studies.

“It was intimidating at first,” said Vasquez, who transferred to UCLA from Pasadena City College. “In my second semester, I connected with the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships. That made everything much more attainable.”

Vasquez has attained what no other woman in her family has: a four-year degree. The daughter of immigrants, the accomplishment is meaningful on multiple levels. “It’s a really proud feeling,” Vasquez said. “Most of the people in my family are men, and women don’t really get acknowledged as much. I get to show the other women in my family, the future women, that this is what we’re capable of.”

A film studies minor, Vasquez combines her artistic eye, work ethic and creative flair on social media production. She’s especially interested in film-related content, like the campaign she’s producing for the Burbank International Film Festival, which is set for August.

Read more about Karla Vasquez on UCLA Newsroom.

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Service and support for former foster youth 

Cristopher Espino’s journey from childhood hardship to academic and civic leadership has been shaped by a deep commitment to service. As a child, he experienced housing instability, at one point living in a car with his mother and sisters. A defining moment came when his mother pulled the car over and gave their blanket to an unhoused person, teaching him that true service means helping others — even during challenging times.

Despite frequent school transfers and a year in foster care, Espino found stability through student government. He became a student leader in high school, championing ethnic studies and education policy, and chose to attend UCLA because of the opportunities to support vulnerable youth in Los Angeles.

At UCLA, Espino — who graduates this month with a bachelor’s in education and social transformation and a minor in labor studies — combined his interests in politics and education. As an Academic Affairs commissioner, he expanded student leadership opportunities and launched a student ambassadorship program to improve academic equity. He also earned recognition through scholar programs, including the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship and Strauss Scholarship.

Using scholarship funding, Espino created a pilot mentorship program that supports youth transitioning out of foster care. Next, he will pursue a master’s degrees at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, aiming to improve educational equity and public systems.

Read more about Cristopher Espino on UCLA Newsroom.

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Sticking the landing: How this gymnast turned it out in her senior year

As she prepares to graduate from UCLA, gymnast Ciena Alipio reflects on a collegiate career marked by athletic excellence, academic achievement and personal growth. Alipio, a standout on the balance beam, earned the 2025 Big Ten beam title and first-team All-American honors in 2025 and 2026. Despite appearing confident during competitions, she said she felt a little nervous in her freshman and sophomore years as she adjusted from elite gymnastics to the NCAA — and dealt with lingering injuries.

Her confidence grew as she healed and redesigned her beam routine with skills she enjoyed performing. This helped her contribute to UCLA’s back-to-back Big Ten championship victories during her junior and senior seasons. Alipio also excelled academically, earning Scholastic All-American recognition and multiple Academic All-Big Ten honors. She credited her time-management skills to her mother, who taught her to make use of every spare moment.

Alipio switched from psychology to sociology during her junior year and plans to pursue psychology in graduate school. Entering senior year, she told her coaches, “If someone is sick or nursing an ankle, and you just want to play it safe, I want to be that person for you.” Working with them, she expanded from beam specialist to competing regularly in beam, floor and bars, highlighted by a breakthrough meet against Michigan State.

The Filipino and Navajo gymnast chose UCLA for its championship potential, academic strength and diversity. As graduation approaches, she takes pride in the legacy she leaves behind, including championship success, personal accomplishments and lasting contributions to UCLA gymnastics.

Read more about Ciena Alipio on UCLA Newsroom.

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Graduating Bruin’s journey from foster care to helping others heal

A small orange teddy bear is one of Allana Martinez's earliest memories, a symbol of stability after a childhood shaped by foster care, kinship care and adoption. Now graduating with a degree in psychobiology, Martinez has transformed those experiences into a passion for helping others, finding community, mentorship and purpose through UCLA's Bruin Guardian Scholars program.

Martinez initially doubted whether the program was for her. But after getting involved, she discovered a supportive network of peers and mentors who helped her embrace a part of her identity she had once minimized.

"BGS has just allowed me to make that a proud part of my identity," she says. "It's given me community, and it's allowed me to reclaim my story in that way."

That sense of belonging helped shape Martinez's college experience and future goals. Drawing strength from her own journey, she found a way to support others facing similar challenges and demonstrate that difficult beginnings do not define what's possible.

As she graduates and heads to Azusa Pacific University’s master of social work program, where on a full-ride scholarship, she leaves UCLA with a deeper sense of confidence, purpose and connection — and a commitment to helping others heal.

Read more about Allana Martinez on UCLA Newsroom.

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Building a community around Black filmmaking

Amber Payne grew up on the South Side of Chicago and came to UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television drawn by the legacy of the L.A. Rebellion — the wave of UCLA filmmakers who transformed independent cinema in the 1960s and ’70s.

Once there, she discovered the legacy still had gaps to fill. After learning a Black upperclassman had gone three years in the film program without meeting another Black undergraduate, she founded the Black Film and Theater Initiative to create the community she felt the program needed.

Her own work moves through genre filmmaking: a horror Western, a vampire story set against the AIDS crisis and the crack epidemic. She’s already putting her BA in film and television as a freelance writer for Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions.

“TFT fosters independent filmmakers and just the passion for storytelling,” she says. “I felt I would really fit in here.”

Read more about Amber Payne on the UCLA GoArts website.

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A diamond in the dugout: How one Bruin took his love of baseball to the big leagues

Inspired by the data-driven world of the film "Moneyball," JJ Svenson turned a lifelong love of baseball into an education in sports analytics. As a student manager for the Bruins baseball team, he found a unique way to combine his passion for the game with his interest in statistics, gaining experience both in the classroom and behind the scenes at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

During his time at UCLA, Svenson has deepened his understanding of how data shapes decision-making in sports, learning from faculty mentors and baseball coaches alike. His work with the team offered a firsthand look at the inner workings of a top collegiate program, while his statistics coursework helped him develop the analytical skills that first drew him to the sport.

“I have been able to use our [baseball] program’s data, along with the coding knowledge I have learned in my classes, to build a multitude of reports, predictive models and interactive applications for the benefit of our program and coaching staff,” he says.

Svenson is now putting those lessons to work with the Detroit Tigers, where he’s started his career in professional baseball analytics. It's the latest chapter in a journey that started with a childhood love of the game and led from the UCLA dugout to the big leagues.

Read more about JJ Svenson on UCLA Newsroom.

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Hunger gains: How an appetite for food studies unlocked a fruitful UCLA experience

What started with a love of nutrition blossomed into something much bigger for graduating UCLA senior Lumina Chan. After transferring from UC Santa Barbara, she found an unexpected home in UCLA's food studies minor, where she combined her interests in health, sustainability and community through hands-on work at the Jane B. Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Community Garden.

As a garden coordinator and food studies student, Chan has helped cultivate everything from herbs and onions to cherry tomatoes and chili peppers — and discovered that food is about far more than what's on a plate. Through coursework, gardening and community partnerships, she gained a deeper understanding of the social, environmental and political forces that shape how people eat and access nutritious food.

Whether harvesting produce for the campus food closet or helping students learn budget-friendly cooking skills, Chan found a way to turn her passion for nutrition into community impact — and a UCLA experience as fruitful as the garden itself.

"I'm just really happy to see how the food and basic needs community at UCLA is growing, and how many meaningful connections can be made through this work," she says.

Read more about Lumina Chan on UCLA Newsroom.

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From Hollywood to healing: A producer’s newest chapter in healthcare

In the lead-up to her graduation from the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, Priya Swaminathan added another accomplishment to her considerable résumé: published author. A former film and TV producer, Swaminathan recently released "Deepa, M.D.," a children's book that blends humor, heart and medical mystery while helping young readers better understand their bodies, emotions and resilience.

Swaminathan’s path to nursing was anything but conventional. After nearly two decades in the entertainment industry making movies, she enrolled in UCLA's master’s entry clinical nurse program in search of what she hoped was a deeper way to serve others. Along the way, she discovered that the storytelling skills she honed in Hollywood could help her connect with patients and families in entirely new ways.

The inspiration for "Deepa, M.D." grew from both personal experience and professional purpose. Drawing on her daughter's hospitalization and her own lifelong fascination with medicine, Swaminathan created a young heroine who solves medical mysteries while learning to navigate life's challenges. The result? A story that reflects the themes that have shaped her own journey: curiosity, compassion and finding strength in unexpected places.

Read more about Priya Swaminathan on the UCLA Nursing website.

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Disability, determination and the pickleball court

Professional pickleball player Riley Joe has spent much of his life defying expectations. Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a joint-related disability that required numerous surgeries throughout his childhood, the Bruin found both a competitive outlet and a platform for advocacy through sports. This June, he graduates with a double major in psychobiology and disability studies and a mission to make the world more inclusive.

Joe's journey to pickleball began almost by accident, after a friend invited him to a local court and he quickly fell in love. Success followed, including sponsorships that allowed him to compete using specialized ankle-foot orthotics.

But he realized that athletics were about more than competition. Through his UCLA studies and personal experiences, he developed a deeper understanding of how systems can create barriers — or opportunities — for people with disabilities.

“Growing up, I was told a lot of times that I wouldn’t be able to achieve certain things, but here I am,” says Joe, who will pursue his master’s degrees in public health and business administration at Columbia University. He hopes eventually to work across healthcare, law, research and policy to improve systems that shape people’s lives.

“Disability,” he says, “is part of my life and perspective, but it does not limit the kinds of spaces I belong in or the work I want to do.”

Read more about Riley Joe on UCLA Newsroom.

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Showing her daughter the importance of education and perseverance  

Dejanay Wallace describes herself as a dreamer from East Oakland. Graduating in June, this anthropology major and African American studies minor — and mother to a 10-year-old daughter — is determined to advance research that is more representative of her identity and her lived experiences. 

The daughter of an African American father and a Mexican American mother, Wallace began her higher education journey a number of years ago but left college to focus on full-time employment. When she became a mother, she decided she wanted to create better opportunities for her daughter and enrolled at Chabot College in Northern California before transferring to UCLA.

For her Undergraduate Research Fellows program, Wallace studies the community in which she was raised. Growing up in the birthplace of the Black Panther Party, she was surrounded by its powerful legacy of advocating for Black pride, systemic reform and community organizing.

Now, she’s examining the tension between the curatorial approaches of Black Panther Party history at the Oakland Museum of California, a well-known, state-funded cultural institution, and the West Oakland Mural Project, a smaller, grassroots community museum. Ultimately, Wallace hopes her research will add to the overarching conversation about the importance of community-centered participation and representation in preserving cultural heritage.

“I wanted to explore something that carries a lot of weight collectively for Black Americans,” she said.

Read more about Dejanay Wallace on UCLA Newsroom.

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Creative artistic detours, remarkable destinations

A spirit of exploration and discovery — and a willingness to forge their own path — has defined the UCLA experience for both graduate student Hunter Blackwell and undergrad Sarah Lustgarten. Now their peers have selected them to deliver the commencement speeches at the UCLA Arts’ graduation ceremony.

Blackwell didn't take the traditional path to architecture. Having studied glass at the Rhode Island School of Design, he spent years designing and building everything from sculptures and furniture to architectural fabrications before arriving at UCLA. Along the way, he discovered that architecture offered something he'd been searching for all along: a place where art, design and critical inquiry could come together.

Graduating with a master’s degree in architecture, Blackwell has embraced the complexity of shaping the built environment, from grappling with Los Angeles' urban challenges to collaborating across disciplines. "I realized I could actually bring all of my skills and interests into one place with architecture," he says. He hopes to teach after graduating.

Lustgarten had no plans to become an artist. In fact, she initially enrolled as a global studies major before finding herself drawn into art classes and creative spaces across campus. What began as curiosity quickly became a calling. She eventually transferred into UCLA's Department of Art, added a second major in communication and embraced a practice that bridges visual and verbal forms of expression.

Today, her work is driven more by experimentation than any single medium. She often transforms overlooked everyday objects into thought-provoking artworks, inviting viewers to reconsider the stories and meanings hidden in plain sight.

"I feel like that's when I have the most fun," she says of her creative process. "That's when my art feels like it has my hand in it the most."

Read more about Hunter Blackwell and Sarah Lustgarten on the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture website.

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Where surf meets science, she is engineering the future

“The ocean has taught me almost everything I know. It’s unpredictable, and in that uncertainty, I’ve learned patience, intuition and trust,” says Lilie Kulber, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. “Surfing taught me that to reach your best self, you have to let go of the outcome and be fully present in the moment.”

That trust in intuition has defined her UCLA career. Arriving on campus as a business economics major, Kulber soon discovered her true passion at the intersection of engineering, health and innovation. Inspired by a family tradition of science and medicine, she switched to bioengineering. She has spent her undergraduate years exploring regenerative medicine, wearable health technologies and the power of engineering to solve real-world problems and create a more sustainable future.

Outside the classroom and lab, she has continued to excel in the sport that first taught her resilience and perspective — as a member of the UCLA’s 2023 national collegiate women's surf championship team and as the team’s co-captain. Her love of the ocean also inspired her to start UCLA’s Surfrider Foundation Club, dedicated to protecting coastal ecosystem. And as president of Clean Consulting at UCLA, a student-run organization she has helped businesses adopt more sustainable practices. Seeing companies act on the team’s recommendations has been one of her proudest achievements.

“Movements start with community,” she says. “When people feel included, supported and connected to a larger purpose, growth happens organically.”

Read more about Lilie Kulber on the UCLA Samueli website. 

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Reggae, rhythm and music industry reinvention

Racquel Bernard, who will graduate with a doctorate in ethnomusicology, has spent years listening to how Black women reggae artists use their voices to challenge conventions and express resistance in ways that often go unrecognized. Her research explores the political power embedded in sound itself, from harmonies and vocal registers to performance styles and musical traditions.

And Bernard isn't just studying the musical form — she's creating it. Born in Jamaica and raised in Florida, she performs under the name Jahmi Roc.

"Part of what I'm doing here is recovering bodies of knowledge that are created by these women artists," she says. Through her music and scholarship, she is helping to amplify those voices that have often been left out of reggae's history.

Aditi Sreenivas, who grew up navigating Indian and American culture, always loved music but she never imagined it would become her career. That changed at UCLA, where the former political science major discovered the Herb Alpert School of Music’s music industry program, which opened her eyes to the many ways people can shape the future of music. Now, the graduating senior is launching a career at Apple Music while thinking about the industry's next chapter, including the opportunities and challenges of AI and the importance of creative community.

"Music will always exist. People will always create and share art," she says. "At the same time, technological progress is inevitable."

Read more about Racquel Bernard and Aditi Sreenivas on the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music website.

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Kindred spirits: Embracing opportunity and resilience connects UCLA graduating seniors

One wouldn’t think that a student of education who moved to the United States from Japan and has two grown children would share core personal values with an 18-year-old professional actor from Ventura County on a pre-law track.

But as it turns out, one of the youngest and one of the most senior graduates going through commencement ceremonies have more in common than meets the eye. Mayu Sasame and August Maturo both came to UCLA as transfer students two years ago and will earn bachelor’s degrees with majors and minors. Both have loving family members who will be in the audience at commencement — family members who offered endless encouragement along the way.

Sasame came to UCLA after earning associate degrees in Japan and California, bringing with her a deep commitment to education and social change. Maturo, who completed three associate degrees before arriving in Westwood, found a community where he could pursue his passion for learning while preparing for a future beyond acting. Despite their different backgrounds, both seized every chance to grow, learn and challenge themselves during their time on campus.

Now preparing to cross the commencement stage, Sasame and Maturo share a common message for their fellow graduates: Setbacks are part of the journey and perseverance matters. Their stories reflect the many paths that lead to UCLA — and the ways a college experience can transform ambition into purpose, no matter where a Bruin begins.

Read more about Mayu Sasame and August Maturo on UCLA Newsroom.

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How 2 students turned compositions into a cultural celebration

It started with a text from a stranger.

UCLA student Mickey Hashim had watched fellow student Gael Saldana’s junior recital on a projector in his apartment and reached out with a question: Would Saldana arrange music for a Southeast Asian cultural festival? That exchange produced SEA Fest, held at the Fowler Museum in spring 2025. It was anchored by a jazz orchestra performing new compositions from Filipino and regional folk songs Saldana had researched by calling his grandmother.

Hashim, who came to UCLA from Malaysia before finding in ethnomusicology a field where music and mathematics converged, also organized UCLA’s first Pride Ball. Saldana, who grew up in Pomona studying jazz with Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, pursued an artistic inquiry into jazz as emotional music — a practice that earned him admission to Berklee College of Music for graduate study.

Both hope SEA Fest continues beyond them and credit the festival with demonstrating what UCLA’s music community can build together.

“It’s not just about the culture,” Hashim says. “It’s about the sense of community, and the wondrous experience of creating and performing together.”

Read more about Mickey Hashim and Gael Saldana on the UCLA GoArts website. 

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From ‘Big Bang’ to big impact: Finding a calling in science education

When Thomas Lehman arrived at UCLA, he knew he loved science. What he didn't yet know was that his time on campus would spark a passion for something equally important: helping others discover it. Now, Lehman is graduating with a major in environmental science and honors in environmental systems and society and will soon begin a fully funded master's program in education at Harvard.

Lehman credits UCLA’s Chuck Lorre Scholars Program — which provides Big Bang Theory Scholarships to low-income STEM students — with helping him find his footing during his first year. The scholarship gave him the freedom to embrace campus life, build confidence and pursue opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. Once he did, he immersed himself in research, academics and a growing interest in science education.

One of Lehman’s most transformative experiences came during a study abroad quarter in Australia, where he conducted hands-on ecological research on everything from giant clams to microplastics. Those experiences helped clarify his desire to inspire the next generation of scientists. This fall in Massachusetts, he’ll begin working toward his teaching credential and his master’s while teaching high school science in Boston.

“When we created the Big Bang Theory Scholars, we hoped it would give students the freedom to explore, grow and dream bigger,” says Chuck Lorre, co-creator of the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” whose family foundation largely funds the scholarships. “Thomas’s journey is a wonderful example of that. He arrived at UCLA with a passion for science and leaves with a calling to inspire future generations through education.”

Read more about Thomas Lehman on the California NanoSystems at UCLA website.

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Software, art and dance: Reimagining the body inside the machine

Chelly Jin came to UCLA’s MFA program in Design Media Arts with five years at Microsoft behind her and a creative question she hadn’t yet been able to fully inhabit.

The daughter of a graphic designer and an electrical engineer, she built a thesis around a deceptively simple argument: software has never been disembodied. Her inspiration was the ENIAC, the first digital electronic computer, built during World War II and operated by six women who spent days unplugging and replugging cables, flipping switches and turning dials to execute a single calculation. Jin reads that unseen labor as a form of choreography.

"The first software is really a dance," she says.

Her thesis installation at the New Wight Gallery extended the idea through projected video, metal server-rack structures and three networked computers, with Jin and a dancer performing movements abstracted from touchscreen gestures.

Also a violinist, Jin joined the Herb Alpert School of Music’s Flux Ensemble in her final year, helping choreograph the movement of instrumentalists through space for an experimental composition.

Read more about Chelly Jin on the UCLA GoArts website.

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Graduating architecture couple design from what’s already there

EmaLee and Nabil Davidson arrived at UCLA’s graduate architecture program already married, already practiced and already fluent in the technical realities of building in real cities — both came up through community college and small professional firms.

This year, Metropolis magazine named both to its Future 100 list of the nation’s top emerging architecture graduates. Their shared design philosophy treats digital tools as continuous material and takes the found condition of existing cities as the starting point rather than the obstacle.

“Our generation of architects believes the found condition has stuff on it, and that has to be part of the design approach,” Nabil said.

EmaLee’s final studio work examines the overlooked surfaces of Los Angeles; Nabil’s probes the closed geography of oil refineries. Beyond studio work, both took on high-profile opportunities while at UCLA Nabil contributed to a faculty member’s Coachella installation, EmaLee to another faculty member’s piece at the Chicago Architecture Biennial — that put their UCLA M.Arch training into the world.

Read more about EmaLee and Nabil Davidson on the UCLA GoArts website.

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Four majors, one remarkable Bruin

Most UCLA students spend four years exploring one academic path. Benjamin Krut spent his pursuing four. The UCLA College graduate is the only member of the class of 2026 to earn four majors — art history, comparative literature, Near Eastern languages and cultures, and philosophy — along with a minor in history.

Krut's academic journey began in philosophy, but he soon found himself drawn in other directions.

“I enjoyed it, but I felt like there was more I wanted to sink my teeth into,” he said. An art history course led to a second major, while connections between art, mythology and storytelling inspired him to add comparative literature. Before long, three majors became four.

For Krut, the goal wasn't collecting majors — it was following his curiosity wherever it led. Drawn to big questions about culture, history, language and ideas, he built an academic path that crossed disciplines and centuries, creating a uniquely interconnected UCLA experience. His achievement illustrates freedom students have to chart their own course and the intellectual appetite that can turn a college education into something truly extraordinary.

After all, sometimes the shortest path isn't the most interesting one.

Read more about Benjamin Krut on the UCLA Humanities website.

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Student-parent goes ‘under the hood’ with crime data

Tahlia Disisto says she came to UCLA with a clear goal: to become a researcher who could help solve real problems. The mother of two traces her path — from a small Italian immigrant community in Adelaide, Australia, to Westwood — to a chance encounter with a law enforcement recruitment video.

“The video featured Special Agent Eddie Winkley; I’ll never forget his name,” she said. “He gave this phenomenal speech about surveillance, security, crime, what the Department of Justice does, how they work and being honorable — that was something that stuck with me at age 16.”

As she resided in multiple countries over the years, Disisto never forgot that video and made a point of studying the different approaches to justice of each government she encountered. It paid off when she moved to the United States and realized she was interested in contributing to the justice field herself.

After settling in California, Disisto enrolled at Santa Monica College, where she earned excellent marks and eventually earned admission to UCLA. 

As Disisto prepares for commencement festivities, the mother of a 10-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son has already secured an internship at the Department of Justice as a crime analyst.

“I pinch myself a lot,” she said with a laugh. “I’m a young woman from a small town in Australia who watched a YouTube video, and now I’m an American citizen graduating from UCLA and starting an internship with the federal government.”

Read more about Tahlia Disisto on UCLA Newsroom.
 

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Separated by 55 years and 2 continents, Bruin finds on-campus tie to her past

In 1971, Mohsen Ghalamkar-Moazzam earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from UCLA. He returned to Iran, where he continued scientific research, mentored the next generation of Iranian chemists — and wound up impacting a future Bruin. Fifty years later, Azadeh Baniasad, a mother from Iran, had recently arrived in the United States and was attending Pierce College while working part time.

It started at a job decorating cakes at Baskin-Robbins in Northridge, California. She found herself thinking analytically — tracking which cakes sold the most and adjusting production accordingly. When her manager told her there was no sales data to improve her performance, she began informally analyzing patterns on her own.

A Pierce College professor encouraged her to transfer to UCLA. “Even though UCLA always had a special place in my family’s heart, I never imagined I could one day be a student here myself,” she said. Today, Azadeh is graduating from UCLA with a degree in statistics and data science and a minor in mathematics.

We often think of commencement as the time to say goodbye to our graduates. But in this case, commencement feels more like a homecoming. Growing up in Iran, Azadeh shared a close bond with her uncle, Mohsen Ghalamkar-Moazzam — the same chemist who earned his Ph.D. from UCLA. His death in 1991 left a lasting void, but his legacy inspired her journey.

In honor of her graduation, a UCLA team located Mohsen’s 1971 dissertation and shared it with Azadeh before commencement. For the first time, she held in her hands the work her uncle completed more than five decades earlier. “Walking across the commencement stage feels as though he is back on campus, walking with me today at commencement,” Azadeh said.

Read more about Azadeh Baniasad on UCLA Newsroom.

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Discovering a new path to medical school through UCLA Extension

When Atithi Multani encountered obstacles in her pursuit of becoming a doctor, she found an alternative path: UCLA Extension. After beginning her studies at Loyola Marymount University, the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes online during her freshman year. The transition to remote learning negatively affected her academic performance.

Although she later improved and graduated with a degree in health and human science and a minor in business administration, her early grades weakened her medical school prospects. So Multani enrolled in UCLA Extension’s Pre-Medical and General Science Studies Certificate Program after graduating from LMU in 2024. The program helped her strengthen her academic record, prepare for the MCAT and build confidence in her abilities.

“I think that UCLA Extension allowed me to reinvent myself and prove to myself — more than anyone — that I was capable of doing this,” she said.

Her passion for medicine was shaped by personal experiences. As a young child in India, she survived a serious case of food poisoning after gaining access to medical care unavailable in her village. Years later, her younger brother suffered a skull fracture, and the compassionate treatment he received further inspired her to enter healthcare. Guided by the Sikh principle of sarbhat da bhala, or the wellness of humanity, she hopes to provide care for others.

On June 15, she will cross the stage for the UCLA Extension certificate graduation ceremony and is waiting to hear back on medical school applications. She is considering orthopedic surgery, dermatology and anesthesia — and plans to earn her MBA after she becomes a doctor.

Read more about Atithi Multani on the UCLA Extension website.

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3 Bruin seniors win International Development Studies Awards

The UCLA International Development Studies (IDS) program recognized three outstanding graduating seniors for their achievements in activism, scholarship and leadership: Aya Ibrahim, Emma Joyal and Sofia Fernandes Martins.

Ibrahim, a double major in international development studies and political science, received the 2026 IDS Activist Award for her leadership, service and advocacy. Through internships with JusticeCorps and Beirut-based Insan Association, she supported legal aid and humanitarian relief efforts. Ibrahim also earned academic honors for her award-winning senior thesis on environmental degradation in Palestine and plans to attend law school to pursue a career in international human rights advocacy.

The 2026 IDS Academic Award was presented to Joyal and Martins for exceptional academic achievement. Joyal, whose studies included Arabic and Middle East Studies, praised the interdisciplinary nature of the IDS program and its emphasis on intellectual curiosity. She combined coursework across diverse fields with research on displacement in Los Angeles County, leadership roles in student organizations, and involvement in UCLA athletics. After graduation, she will pursue a master’s degree in technology policy and hopes to work in policy analysis.

Martins, an international student from Brazil, is graduating cum laude as a member of the Dean’s Honor List. Fluent in Portuguese and English, she also speaks Spanish and French. She studied abroad at the University of Cambridge and in The Hague, served in the United Nations Association at UCLA, and worked as a columnist for the Daily Bruin. Inspired by her IDS coursework and faculty mentors, she plans to study law at King’s College London and pursue a career in international criminal and human rights law.

Read more about Aya Ibrahim, Emma Joyal and Sofia Fernandes Martins on the UCLA International Institute website.

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Dancer finds her place in LA through UCLA Extension entertainment studies 

Angel Hass’ journey to Los Angeles began unexpectedly. Originally from Germany, she dreamed of opening a ballet school, but when that plan failed, she decided to explore opportunities in the United States. Inspired by her father, a kung fu instructor, and their shared love of action films, Hass had long been interested in performance. After arriving in Los Angeles, she enrolled in acting classes through UCLA Extension and quickly fell in love with acting, the city and its welcoming atmosphere.

Movement had always been central to Hass’ life. Although she started martial arts at age 3, she preferred the choreography over fighting. Influenced by her mother’s involvement in dance and fitness, she explored several activities before discovering ballet when she was 10. Ballet became her passion, even as she earned a degree in health communications as a practical backup.

In 2019, unable to launch her ballet school in Germany, Hass moved to Los Angeles. After studying briefly at the New York Film Academy, she joined UCLA Extension. The COVID-19 pandemic forced her classes online and kept her separated from her family for two years, but she remained committed to her goals.

Now working at UCLA Extension while pursuing acting and contemporary dance, Hass feels at home in LA. Her parents will attend her graduation on June 15; she earned her Entertainment Studies Certificate in the spring and her Acting Certificate before that.

Read more about Angel Hass on the UCLA Extension website.

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Exploring artificial intelligence and staying human

Throughout his time at UCLA, Ziyan Xie, has delved deeply into questions about artificial intelligence, exploring the intersection of AI, philosophy and human experience and asking not only how computers see the world but how their vision changes ours.

Xie a cognitive science and German major, recently completed an ambitious interactive documentary called “See/Saw,” which invites users to experience machine vision firsthand. Through a combination of gameplay and documentary storytelling, the project explores how technologies like surveillance cameras and drones interpret the world, and encourages audiences to think critically about the systems shaping modern life.

That same curiosity fueled a seminar Xie designed and taught at UCLA, where students grappled with questions about video games, technology and society and were challenged to think beyond the screen.

“The technical layer of a system tells you how it works,” he says, “but history and literature tell you what it’s doing to people.”

While he is pondering whether to pursue a doctorate in cognitive psychology or continue building technology after graduation, Xie says his guiding principle remains the same.

“Being human,” he says, “is utterly the most important thing to think about.”

Read more about Ziyan Xie on the UCLA Humanities website.