Mimi Perloff

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To the hundreds who have had the pleasure of making her acquaintance, Mimi Perloff embodies the kind of service and commitment that make the world a warmer, more congenial place. Mimi’s association with UCLA spans more than two decades. Over the years, she has remained a constant and invaluable presence at the school, participating in a wide variety of campus activities.

But the First Lady of Architecture and Urban Planning, as she has been called, has not been content to limit her activities to just one school or department. Since 1969, Perloff has been a gentle but driving force behind Design for Sharing, an organization that enables disadvantaged people to attend cultural events at UCLA and brings students in Los Angeles schools to the campus for professional performances. Equally meaningful has been her work with the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary and Board of Advisors, where she has logged more than 1,500 hours of volunteer service since 1978. A comprehensive discussion of Perloff’s involvement at UCLA would also mention her generous gifts to the university. Perhaps her greatest contribution to the university is not tangible, but the one singled out by Martin Wachs, head of the UCLA Urban Planning Program, who said, “She is the heart and soul of our school, a symbol of our goals and achievements.”