Andrew Dean Period 5

02/11/15
English 1

Ralph Bunche was an American Political Scientist who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his
1940s mediation in Israel. He was the first African­American to be honored in the history of the prize. For more than two decades, Bunche served as chair of the Department of Political
Science at Howard University where he also taught for a very long time.He was also involved in the formation and administration of the United Nations. In 1963, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy.

Ralph Bunche was born in
Detroit,Michigan in 1903 or 1904 and baptized at the city's
Second City Baptist Church.When Ralph was a child, his family moved to
Toledo, Ohio, where his father looked for work. They returned to Detroit in 1909 after his sister Grace was born, with the help of their maternal aunt, Ethel Johnson. Their father did not live with the family again after Ohio and had not been "a good provider," but followed them when they moved to New Mexico.Bunche was a brilliant student, a debater, and the valedictorianl of his

graduating class at
Jefferson High School. He attended the
UCLA, and graduated summa cum laude in 1927 as the valedictorian of his class. Using the money his community raised for his studies and a graduate scholarship at
Harvard University, he earned a doctorate in political science.

During
World War II, Bunche worked in the
OSS, the