Cornell (thank) U

What does the perfect day at Cornell look like? After interviewing 250 incredible guests on the Cornell (Thank) U Podcast, we noticed something. No matter when they were at Cornell—or what they studied—they kept coming back to many of the same memories: • The same dorms  • The same classes  • The same professors  • The same study spots  • The same bars  • The same late-night food So, to celebrate...

How does a first-generation kid from Brooklyn end up becoming the Acting Mayor of Ithaca? For Eric Rosario '91, it all started with one history professor whose book inspired him to apply to Cornell. That one decision changed the course of his life in ways he never could have imagined. Eric is one of those people who instantly makes you feel like you've known him forever. He's though...

We had the honor and fun of talking with Alexis Gabler '24, whose connection to Cornell began long before she ever arrived in Ithaca. After her father, Cornell alumnus Fred Gabler, was killed on September 11th, his closest friends—including our Vino—made an extraordinary commitment to be a loving part of her life and to help secure her future. Years later, Alexis graduated from Cornell Human...

Lisa Levy Shaub ’91 joins us for a conversation about reinvention, resilience, and finding your true calling. She shares behind-the-scenes stories about working with Oprah, the lessons she learned about behavior change, confidence, and wellness, and why she believes some of life’s biggest pivots can become our greatest opportunities. We also discuss midlife health, longevity, GLP-1 medications, co...

Mike "Vino" Levine has one of the most powerful jobs in sports as Co-Head of CAA Sports, representing some of the biggest athletes, coaches, and personalities in the world. But that's not why we loved this conversation. Vino takes us from Chappaqua and Cornell lacrosse to the top of the sports industry, sharing stories about friendship, teamwork, mentorship, family, and the relation...

Adam Rosenberg '92 thought he might become a lawyer or work in politics. Instead, he built one of the most impactful careers we've ever featured on the podcast. Today, Adam leads programs that support more than 10,000 survivors of violence each year, working with children, families, and communities during some of the hardest moments imaginable. But before all of that, he was living the f...

Cornell rising junior Noah Farb joins us after a viral video and widely shared Free Press article suddenly put him at the center of a national conversation about Cornell and President Kotlikoff. Noah talks about why he decided to speak out, how students reacted, and what it feels like to suddenly become one of the most talked-about student voices on campus. Beyond the politics, this episode is als...

Rob Gregor is back — and since we last spoke, he’s entered an entirely new world: finance YouTube. The Cornell alum, lawyer, hotelier, investor, and Hotel School guest lecturer has launched The Hostile Takeover TV with his 15-year-old son Joseph, a channel designed to teach Gen Z about money, investing, AI, and financial survival in an increasingly uncertain economy. You simply have to check it ou...

Why do students describe Dr. Lauren Korfine as “life-changing”? In this episode, the beloved Human Ecology professor opens up about mental health, imposter syndrome, anxiety, heartbreak, gender, campus culture, and what students today are really struggling with.  We also talk about her unexpected path from Cornell student… to Harvard… to working as a doula for 17 years before returning to the clas...

She didn’t pick one path—she picked all of them. From Cornell to Procter & Gamble, to entrepreneurship, to raising a family, to running a tennis program for 500 kids a year—Lisa Ullmann is the definition of a doer. In this episode, we talk about: Springsteen, Slope Day, how she built a career and still stayed deeply involved in her community, why she’s never been afraid to ask for money, and t...

What does it actually mean to “control the narrative” in Hollywood? Liz Mahoney ’99 is the publicist behind some of Hollywood’s biggest stars—and in this episode, she pulls back the curtain on a world most people never see. From traveling the world with Ben Stiller to co-founding a top-tier PR firm, Liz shares how careers are built, protected, and sometimes…saved. She is trusted, admired, and soug...

What is life in the operating room really like? And for women in surgery, how much has actually changed for the better? In this episode, we talk withDr. Sarah Temkin '93 - gynecologic oncologist, physician-scientist, filmmaker, and now a leader at the American Cancer Society — about her path from Cornell to medicine, what drew her to surgery, and the hidden realities of working in the OR as a...

He’s back—and a lot has changed. Since we last spoke with Ex-CIA Officer Marc Polymeropoulos, he’s gone from a somewhat private recovery to national headlines, including a powerful appearance on 60 Minutes . In this episode, we catch up on everything: what really happened behind the scenes of that 60 Minutes story his unfiltered take on Iran and where things stand now how his experience with Havan...

The headlines say women’s sports is booming. Digit Murphy isn’t so sure. We brought back hockey legend, Cornell alum, and one of the most well-spoken and outspoken voices in sports for our first Since We Last Spoke episode—and she came in with takes. Not just on the Olympics, the gold medal, and the controversial phone call that followed… but on what’s actually happening behind the momentum everyo...

78% of Cornell students left campus for spring holidays. But what about everyone else? From sorority house seders… to Easter traditions… to surviving on matzah and tuna — we realized we all experienced this time differently. So we turned it into a game. Matzah ball soup: essential or no one's gonna miss it? Honey baked ham: yes or no? Peeps vs healthy candy. And the afikoman… should everyone...

When Ken Kunken took the field for a Cornell football game, he had no idea his life was about to change in an instant. That moment left him a quadriplegic. What happened next is hard to comprehend—because the life he went on to build wasn’t supposed to be possible. This isn’t just a story of resilience. It’s a story of defying every expectation, again and again, in ways that feel almost impossible...

We had a great time with Ivy Woolenberg — a freshman at Cornell’s Hotel School, Disney Bake-Off winner, and the creator behind the viral baking account Baked With Love by Ivy. Ivy shares the baking fail that somehow turned into a 40-million-view video, how she started her baking business at just 11 years old, and what it’s like balancing Cornell life with a fast-growing social media brand. Plus: b...

Why are New Yorkers lining up for gelato in SoHo? In this episode, we talk with the entrepreneur behind RivaReno Gelato about the moment in Italy that sparked an obsession—and ultimately led him to bring authentic Italian gelato to New York City. From discovering what real gelato tastes like, to opening a shop in one of the toughest restaurant markets in the world, he shares the story behind the s...

We had the joy of sitting down with Bill Nye the Science Guy to hear the story behind how he became the person who made Science feel fun, approachable, and even a little bit cool.  Long before the bow tie and the TV shows, Bill was a Cornell student taking a transformative class with Carl Sagan, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and discovering how humor and critical thinking could live in the same space....

Hayley Paige created the kind of wedding dresses brides pin, save, and dream about. By her mid-20s, she was leading a global bridal brand with her name on every gown. And then, after signing a contract at 25, everything shifted. In this episode, Hayley shares what it felt like to suddenly lose control of her own name and how she navigated a chapter that could have ended her career. We rewind to he...

Meet our new idol, Rebecca Rutstein ’93, an artist whose creative process takes her somewhere almost no one else has ever been: more than 2,000 meters beneath the ocean’s surface. Rebecca collaborates closely with scientists, joins deep-sea research expeditions, and climbs into a six-foot submersible to explore the hidden landscapes of the ocean floor — from bioluminescent life in total darkness t...

Roy Danis ’78 never took Cornell’s famous wine tasting class — and yet he went on to build a 40-year career at the top of the wine and spirits world. Roy takes us from Oceanside, Long Island to Cornell, where he captained the men’s gymnastics team, and into an extraordinary professional journey including Seagram, Campari, start-ups, and his newest venture, Revival Spirits — alongside business part...

Dr. Nicole McNichols ’97 is a professor whose work explores sex, intimacy, and how people connect. In this episode, Nicole breaks down what’s actually happening in modern dating and relationships — why so many people feel disconnected, how expectations around sex have shifted, and what the research really says about pleasure, desire, and communication.  Drawing from both her classroom and her own...

Asian Americans make up a small percentage of artists on major stages — and Lily Tung Crystal is actively changing that. Lily is the Artistic Director of East West Players, the nation’s largest and longest-running Asian American theater company. She shares her journey from Cornell to Shanghai to Minneapolis to Los Angeles, and how her work is reshaping who gets hired, who gets supported, and whose...

Meet Dr. Eric Kusseluk ’97, a board-certified dermatologist, former Cornell soccer player, and a true example of persistence. "Dr. K" (to us) shares the remarkable story of how sheer tenacity got him into Cornell off the waitlist, onto the soccer field as a walk-on, and eventually helped transform the program into an Ivy League championship team. That same determination followed him thro...