In a speech that touched on UCLA’s past, present and future, Chancellor Julio Frenk repeatedly paused to spotlight the people who embody the university at its best, from an NCAA championship–winning coach and a Nobel Prize–winning scientist to one of UCLA’s youngest graduates and one of its oldest. Together, the honorees reflected the themes that ran throughout Frenk’s first State of the Campus address: excellence, resilience, connection and the idea that UCLA’s impact stretches across disciplines, generations and every stage of life.

Learn more about the Bruins Frenk asked to stand and be recognized.

Cori Close
Women's basketball head coach

After Cori Close led the UCLA women’s basketball team to its first-ever NCAA championship this April, Chancellor Frenk took great pleasure in telling everyone that UCLA also stands for University of Champions, Los Angeles. And during the State of the Campus event, emcee Adriana Galván shared this Close quote: “It’s not about any one of us — it’s about what we build together.”

Beyond championships and wins (she has nearly 360 in her 15 seasons at UCLA), Close, who was mentored by the legendary John Wooden, has helped build a program defined by connection, accountability and purpose — values that have helped elevate the program into a national powerhouse, made her one of UCLA’s most admired coaches and resonated deeply across the Bruin community and the nation.

The women’s remarkable 2025–26 season was characterized by resilience, toughness and belief, and much of that is down to Close’s coaching ethic, exemplified by the strong bonds forged between the players. As Close has said, “Banners hang in gyms and medals collect dust … but who you become and who you impact — you get to keep that forever.” 

More on Cori Close

► History made: UCLA women’s basketball team wins NCAA championship

► Hoop heroes: Cori Close and the Bruins

► LA Times: Cori Close forging a new UCLA legend with the lessons John Wooden taught her

Andrea Ghez 
Professor of physics and astronomy

In calling out UCLA’s research excellence, Chancellor Frenk called out Andrea Ghez. Stargazers, both novice and professional, owe a galaxy of thanks to Ghez, whose research led to the discovery of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Ghez, who holds UCLA’s Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2020 for the discovery, becoming just the fourth woman ever to win the honor.

Across her career, she has developed groundbreaking telescopic imaging techniques for identifying and photographing distant stars in our solar system and has created complex computer algorithms and software for studying and analyzing astronomical data. Ghez is a member of the UCLA Galactic Center Group, which has the mission of transforming our understanding of black holes and their role in the universe with high-resolution observations of the Milky Way.

More on Andrea Ghez

► Andrea Ghez wins 2020 Nobel Prize in physics

► A search for knowledge that led Andrea Ghez to a Nobel Prize

► UCLA Research Powers Progress: Andrea Ghez unveiled the secrets of the stars

► Video: 37 questions with black holes expert Andrea Ghez

August Maturo and Mayu Sasame
Among UCLA’s oldest and youngest graduating seniors

Chancellor Frenk also highlighted the UCLA for Life flagship initiative by recognizing two soon-to-be graduates — August Maturo and Mayu Sasame — whose stories reflect the university’s commitment to learning across generations and life experiences. Both, he said, “have excelled inside and outside the classroom and will earn their degrees in just over two weeks.”

Sasame, one of UCLA’s oldest 2026 graduates, will earn a bachelor’s in education and social transformation with a minor in visual and performing arts education. A transfer student from Berkeley City College who was born and raised in Tokyo, she has lived and studied in the Bay Area, the South Bay, Orange County, Hawaii — and Bali, where she participated in the UCLA Global Internship Program. After commencement — her son and daughter will be cheering her on as she walks the stage — she intends to take a gap year and visit her parents in Japan before embarking on her next chapter.

Maturo, an English major with a minor in film, television and digital media, is among UCLA’s youngest graduates. The Ventura County native and professional actor came to UCLA after two years at Moorpark College, where he earned three associate’s degrees. Like Sasame, he plans to take a gap year to resume his acting career, study for the LSAT and apply to law school.

Together, these two Bruins embody the vision of UCLA as a place where learning, curiosity and growth flourish across the full arc of life.

More on UCLA for Life

► UCLA Magazine’s spring 2026 issue: UCLA for Life

► UCLA expands its commitment to becoming a more age-friendly campus