Inspiring Community - Fall/Winter 2023

The Penn Arts & Sciences Ambassador Council was created as a way for College alums to connect with Penn, keep learning, and give back to current students. Its members share a love of the liberal arts and a determination to build and strengthen the Penn Arts & Sciences network. “Ambassadors” come from all over the country and work in a variety of disciplines. 

Ambassador Council initiatives include conceiving and creating the Ben Connect online platform, which allows alums to offer mentorship to current College students. The council also holds networking and career information events for alums and students, as well as salons with faculty. 

The Ambassador Council added four new members this fall:

Harini Chundu, C’05, is part of the portfolio management team at Advent Capital. Before her time at Advent, she worked in various investment management roles. She has a background in cross-capital structure investing, spanning leveraged loans to equity. Chundu is the proud mother of two sons, Will and Robbie. She resides in New York City and Cold Spring, New York, with her children and husband, Andy, W’03. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and societies and, in 2011, earned an M.B.A. in the Value Investing Program from Columbia Business School.

Kevin J. Cross, C’97, Med’02, is a plastic surgeon and owner of Cross Medical Group (CMG), an aesthetic plastic surgery and medical practice with offices in Philadelphia and Villanova, Pennsylvania. He started CMG in 2008 and now employs more than 40 team members and 12 full-time providers. He is a multi-year recipient of Philadelphia Magazine and Main Line Today Top Docs recognition. After earning his degree from the College, Cross graduated from the School of Medicine in 2002. He then completed a research fellowship at the Northwestern University School of Medicine before going on to train in general surgery and plastic surgery through a dual program at Cornell University and Columbia University. He lives near Philadelphia with his wife and three children. 

Steven Eidelman, C’07, is the founder and CEO of Modern Animal, a next-generation veterinary care provider that is reimagining animal care by starting with humans. The company designs, develops, and operates its own clinics, as well as a digital platform that supports both members and employees. Prior to Modern Animal, Eidelman co-founded Whistle, a consumer electronics company that developed pet tracking and health monitoring devices and was acquired by Mars, and worked as an investor at Spectrum Equity and a consultant at Bain and Company. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Julia, two sons Leo and Roman, and dog Layla.

Robin Weinberg, C’91, is an oral historian and adjunct professor who creates and produces projects for community building and civil discourse. She also works with families, corporations, and nonprofits to record their unique stories and histories. She previously founded Just So You Know, a nonprofit that helps people living with cancer record life histories, in honor of her Penn roommate, Gail Addlestone, C’91; and WestportVoices, a community-building storytelling project. Weinberg is an officer and campaign manager of the Democratic Town Committee in Westport, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, three daughters, and a small menagerie. She has a bachelor’s in psychology, a J.D. from the New York University School of Law, and a master’s in oral history from Columbia University.

Council members are ambassadors for Penn Arts & Sciences, its alums, and its students, working to engage alumni, create connections, and support the School through actions and gifts. If you’re interested in learning more about or joining the Ambassador Council, please contact Chrissy Bowdren, Senior Associate Director of Volunteer Programs, Penn Arts & Sciences, at cbowdren@sas.upenn.edu.

Penn Arts & Sciences at Work 

Penn Arts & Sciences at Work is a photoblog series that highlights College alums in their workplaces as they reflect on how and why their careers took shape.  

To see more, visit Penn Arts & Sciences at Work.

Brian Lang, C’08

Senior Manager, Human Resources at Comcast 
Psychology Major 
Philadelphia, PA

“Listening only to your head will create a very short runway, while listening to your heart will sustain you for your entire career.”