June Kim ’65

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Born in the small town of Tulelake, Calif, June Kim started her adventurous life in an internment camp. Who would have known that the young woman who worked on her father’s chicken farm and her cousin’s vegetable farm was going to turn into a globe trotter and one of UCLA’s most devoted alumni?

When she first came to UCLA, the words “sports fanatic” was the farthest thing from her mind. June matriculated into UCLA as a chemistry major where she spent countless hours on her studies. It was a different campus back then; fees for a semester were a mere $64 and Hershey Hall was an all women’s residence hall. She remembers never tailgating when UCLA Football played at the Coliseum, but she’s made up for lost time and even holds season tickets for both UCLA Football and UCLA Men’s Basketball.

After graduating in 1965, June worked as a statistics analyst for a mental health hospital in Pomona, Calif. We asked how did a chemistry major learn computer programming skills. She nonchalantly replied, “On the job. It was easy.”

It seems like not too many things stand in June’s way. To her, programming is a game, like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Her resume also includes a brief stint with Jet Propulsion Laboratory, then several years programming for the United States Air Force, where she worked in Hawaii and Viet Nam.

June’s son, Gerald, is also a Bruin and he share her passions for travel.  She fondly remembers taking her son to the UCLA Men’s Basketball Final Four in Seattle as the event that really sparked her love for UCLA Athletics.

Anyone who knows June, knows that she is an energetic volunteer and is always busy. Now that she’s retired, she spends her time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, as a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and, of course, UCLA. When asked why she decided to give back to UCLA in a myriad of ways, she could not pinpoint any one reason because, “It’s just what you do.”

June’s been labeled a “workaholic” by former co-workers and fellow volunteers. Is it really work when you love what you do? We asked her if she had any advice for young Bruins and future UCLA alumni, “Just get involved. There are so many opportunities. Keep your eyes open.”