Press Releases

In an evolving employment landscape staying ahead of the curve is essential, and having a strong professional network has never been more important. Earning a certificate from UCLA Extension and becoming an alumni member not only means staying ...

UCLA Extension alumni, friends and partners gathered on Oct. 9 for the inaugural event of the new UCLA Downtown Bruin Collaborative, a space that will serve as a gathering place for future classes, workshops, civic forums and more. That night, people ...

To Nick Brown, art is more than just a passion, it is a calling. And it started early. Like most children, Brown loved drawing - from dinosaur bones to Star Wars landspeeders. He had a desire to share things with the world and to help others view the ...

When UCLA Extension leadership sought to create a Sustainability Certificate Program, they knew Nurit Katz would be an invaluable resource. Having served as UCLA's chief sustainability officer, it made sense to use her expertise to help build the ...

When the Olympics came to Arthur Goualin's hometown of Paris in 2024, the stars aligned to make his dreams come true. He already had a master's in sports business, and had worked the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia. In June 2024, Goualin ...

For as long as she can remember, UCLA Extension instructor Nicole Charky-Chami has had a passion for storytelling. Growing up watching the news with her family and spending her mornings poring over each page of the newspaper, she always saw news ...

From a very early age, Jiawei Shen has used music to connect to others. That passion for music and pursuit of finding likeminded individuals has taken him on a journey thousands of miles from his home in China, landing him in the UCLA Extension Film ...

Though UCLA Extension instructor Antonio Pagano is listed as the sole instructor of his courses, he is not working alone. Helping him facilitate these classes is an artificial intelligence virtual teaching assistant named Claudia GPT. Pagano ...

When Zahra Almahdi had the opportunity to study photography in both her home country of Saudi Arabia and the United States, she knew she had to take it. The collaborative program between UCLA Extension and the Misk Art Institute provided a chance for ...

One of Hamy Sharifi's key memories as a child was going to the bank with his parents. "I remember being in awe as I walked into the bank surrounded by so many customers," he recalled. "Something sparked my curiosity about how these individuals in ...

There is no shortage of headlines declaring a crisis in higher education: declining enrollments, rising skepticism about the value of a degree, unsustainable funding models, and a growing disconnect between universities and the world of work. These ...

From the first day Kristina Kepner set foot in a fire station, she felt at home. She joined the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Explorers, a program for youth interested in fire service, when she was 15. Although being the one girl in the room ...

Dr. Rishab Gupta has had a long and successful career. He retired after decades at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine conducting cutting-edge cancer research and training surgical oncology fellows and graduate students. However, he could not ...

Charlie Jensen, Humanities & Social Sciences Charlie Jensen joined UCLA Extension in 2016 as director of the Writers' Program, and in 2025 expanded his portfolio to include programs in the Humanities & Social Sciences portfolio. Jensen holds a ...

Dear Colleagues: Following the completion of a customary five-year administrative review, I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Eric Bullard as dean of the Division of Continuing Education and UCLA Extension (UNEX). The review committee ...

In almost 25 years of lending his expertise to internationally renowned businesses, Matthew Weinraub has seen just about everything. That is why he has plenty of answers for UCLA Extension students seeking to understand the current international trade ...

For as long as she can remember, Army veteran Ineka Smith has always enjoyed working with computers, but she has never found the right moment to pivot her career toward that passion - until now. Through UCLA VetJET (Veterans Job, Education & ...

Plenty of good cheer emanated from Downtown Los Angeles as new UCLA Extension alumni members sipped and savored joining a network of more than 75,000 who have earned their certificates and their status as Bruin alumni. Approximately 100 people ...

Filmmaking has always been in Rosa Costanza's blood. Her grandfather Thomas Horton Sr. was vice president of Thalassa, the production company set up in Hollywood for Jacques Cousteau's T.V. series "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" and "The ...

Mayee Futterman has always loved art. As a child, she spent hours drawing and felt a deep connection with the Chinese art and antiques her mother collected and displayed throughout their home. But it wasn't until college when she saw her friend's ...

For 70 years, the UCLA Extension Technical Management Program (TMP) has been helping some of the nation's brightest minds become the leaders of today in their respective fields of expertise. Colt McAnlis landed in the program in the early 2010s as a ...

As the announcer called each graduate to the podium, cheers echoed and bounced throughout UCLA's Pauley Pavilion - a call and response among family and friends there to celebrate the UCLA Extension Certificate Graduation Ceremony. Approximately 900 ...

Ho Yun Kang has been on his own for about as long as he can remember. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he convinced his parents to let him go to school in the U.S. by himself when he was 14. More than a decade later, with stops along the way on the East ...

When Miguel Quintero returned from Army active duty nearly four decades ago, he was dealing with physical and mental ailments, including PTSD. Receiving help requires a lot of paperwork, and over the years, Quintero found himself becoming a bit of an ...

Danuelle Jones comes from a long line of caretakers that includes nurses, respiratory therapists and psychologists. Jones herself cared for the elderly, volunteering at Inglewood Senior Daycare and as a live-in caregiver in Sherman Oaks. Driven by a ...