Is Tony Chen ’12 the World’s Most Devoted Cornellian?

He tirelessly promotes the University and its alumni—connecting Big Red grads to their alma mater, and to each other

“Bear Hugs” celebrates heartwarming stories of Cornellians on the Hill and around the world. Have an idea? Email us at cornellians@cornell.edu!

By Beth Saulnier

It’s his signature shot on social media: a selfie showing only part of his face, because the rest of the frame is dedicated to something involving the Big Red and its alumni.

It might be a major on-campus event like Homecoming, Commencement, or Reunion; a Cornell Club gathering somewhere around the country; a meetup he organized; a visit to a Cornellian-founded startup, faculty research site, or alumni-owned eatery; a plug for an alum running for elective office or selling a product; or any one of myriad other Big Red-related topics and happenings.

Whatever the Cornell tie, Tony Chen ’12, MEng ’12, is there—and within hours, his thousands of followers across various social media platforms will know about it, too.

For the past half-decade or so, the ever-smiling Chen has been a one-man Cornellian-connecting machine, devoting himself to spotlighting the efforts and achievements of the University and its alumni.

Ask him how much of his time he spends promoting Cornell and Cornellians and he’ll tell you: 18 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“That’s all I do,” says Chen, who majored in applied physics in the Engineering college. “I don’t do anything else.”

(To clarify: he does have his own tech company, whose data-cleaning software generates recurring revenue that frees him up to focus on his Big Red alumni work.)

Ask him how much of his time he spends promoting Cornell and Cornellians and he’ll tell you: 18 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Chen’s goal—officially; it’s posted atop some of his social media sites—is for Cornell to be considered the number-one school on the planet by 2050.

“You’d walk down the street in New Haven and ask, ‘What’s the best school in the world?’ and they’d all say Cornell,” he explains. “Even if they go to Yale, I still want them to say Cornell is the best.”

As Chen recalls, although he went to just a few alumni events in the years after he graduated, by the mid-2010s he was attending every one held in the vicinity of Washington, DC, where he grew up and is still based.

Then he started organizing events of his own, and sharing out Cornellian news on social media.

Many alumni first intersected with Chen during the COVID pandemic, when the online “global mixers” he’d founded in 2019 surged in popularity.

The events are still held every other Saturday night—even if it falls on a major holiday—drawing from dozens to hundreds of alums who chat about whatever topics spring to mind.

Many alumni first intersected with Chen during the COVID pandemic, when the online ‘global mixers’ he’d founded in 2019 surged in popularity.

“It’s a fascinating international cocktail party,” says longtime participant Susan Frank Weitz ’65, an Arts & Sciences alum based in central Michigan.

“What Tony is doing is exactly what President Kotlikoff called for in his State of the University speech at Reunion in June, which is to stay close to Cornell, and to be connected with each other.”

These days, Chen’s primary social media platform is LinkedIn, where he has nearly 40,000 followers, with another 6,000 on Facebook.

He also has roughly 1,000 followers each on TikTok and Instagram; for both, his handle is @risleyite in honor of his undergrad residence.

Where in the (Big Red) World Is Tony Chen?

In October 2025, Chen spent most of the month in Ithaca, staying at an Airbnb and meeting Cornellians on campus and its environs—attending numerous events and holding “office hours” where students and others could gather and hear about opportunities for internships, jobs, and networking.

(Then he jetted off to California, where he socialized with hundreds of Cornellians at events in various cities and documented the encounters on social media.)

Whenever he’s in Ithaca, Chen likes to stop by Lake View Cemetery to visit the grave of Theodore Zinck—the famed 19th-century barkeep and namesake of the massive annual gathering known as International Spirit of Zinck’s Night.

What Tony is doing is exactly what President Kotlikoff called for in his State of the University speech at Reunion in June, which is to stay close to Cornell, and to be connected with each other.

Susan Frank Weitz ’65

“I go there because he did a good job bringing alumni together over the years,” Chen says, then reflects further: “That’s true. Every year, he brings Cornellians together. Wow. What a good role model.”

Among Chen’s missions is to help Big Red alums and their ventures succeed. He matches job-hunting students and alums with other Cornellians looking to hire, promotes products by alumni-owned companies, stumps for grads seeking political office, and more.

“We need more Cornellians running for Congress,” Chen observes, adding: “If we get back-to-back presidents—like, we have one president and then the next president is another Cornellian—then it will start to make people think, ‘Oh, Cornell might be the best school in the world.’”

Chen maintains a website tracking a variety of Big Red-centric lists, including Cornellian-founded startups, alums running for office, episodes of his Big Red Podcast, a schedule of every Cornell event around the world, and a Spotify playlist of music by Cornellians—from “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis [’72] and the News to “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell ’19.

And as if that weren’t enough Cornelliana, Chen belongs to the Continuous Reunion Club—the group of alumni who attend annually, whether or not it’s an official Reunion year for their class.

“Every Cornellian should go to Reunion every year,” he says. “Somehow, people started thinking it’s normal to go to every five years. We’ve got to change that. At Princeton, for example, 30% of their alums go to reunion every year. If you don’t go, it’s like, ‘Are you okay? Are you sick?’ At Cornell, we have to make it normal to go to Reunion every year.”

Every Cornellian should go to Reunion every year. Somehow, people started thinking it’s normal to go to every five years. We’ve got to change that.

For the past several years, Chen has been hosting monthly four-hour meetups at a food court in Midtown Manhattan, where Cornellians drop in to network and socialize.

Among the regular attendees is Dawn Crandlemire, MBA ’16, a former investment banker who praises Chen as “the radical connector.”

“I’m at an inflection point in my life and career, where I’m in discovery mode,” Crandlemire says. “And truly, Tony and the events he puts on have helped me so much. I’ve been trying to start businesses, and he has plugged me in and given me tools and connections.”

Crandlemire vividly recalls a time when one of her business ideas didn’t pan out—and after she mentioned it to Chen, he swiftly showed up at her apartment door offering advice and support.

“Tony is an extremely gifted person, and he sees things that others don’t,” she says. “He has a very rare quality; there are few people who have both the power and the kindness to change someone’s trajectory. And he doesn’t expect to get anything in return. This is what he has dedicated his life to.”

Top: Chen on Libe Slope. (Sreang Hok / Cornell University; all social media selfie images provided.)

Published November 12, 2025

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Comments

1. 

   Fred Piscop, Class of 1970

   12 Nov, 2025

   Hey! I know that guy!

   Reply
2. 

   Wendy Larson, Class of 2000

   12 Nov, 2025

   His energy is contagious! Go Tony! Go Big Red!

   Reply
3. 

   David Chipurnoi, Class of 2000

   12 Nov, 2025

   Yes

   Reply

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