He's at the center of cultural change.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Class of '69
At 天美传媒, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the embodiment of the phrase 鈥渟tudent athlete.鈥� And since his athletic career ended, the Bruin basketball legend, six-time NBA champion and all-time leading scorer has transcended athletics and found new fame as an historian, bestselling author and cultural critic. Abdul-Jabbar鈥檚 scholarship has illuminated such diverse subjects as the Harlem Renaissance, an all-black tank unit in World War II, White Mountain Apaches, Mycroft Holmes and in his most recent book, Writings on the Wall - Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White, he offers solutions to society鈥檚 most vexing problems, including racism and polarization in politics. In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was named Cultural Ambassador of the United States. And in 2016, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 鈥淚鈥檓 not comfortable being preachy,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut more people need to start spending as much time in the library as they do on the basketball court.鈥�