Dr. Gil Wernovsky, a 1974 graduate of Cheltenham High School, is an internationally renowned pediatric cardiologist and cardiac intensivist at the Children’s Heart Institute in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Ajay Nair is the current president of Arcadia University.

Both were named Penn State Alumni Assocation Fellows in 2023, which is considered the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association.

According to their website, the award goes each year to select alumni who are nominated by an academic college and accept an invitation from the President of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty, and administrators.

Dr. Gil Wernovsky (above right)

In 2015, Dr. Wernovsky was also awarded the prestigious Newburger-Bellinger Award for his lifetime contributions in the field of Neurodevelopment in children with heart disease.

He has been involved in the training and mentoring of over 300 fellows in pediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, neonatology, critical care medicine, and cardiac anesthesia, in addition to countless residents and medical students.

Dr. Wernovsky graduated from Brandeis University in 1978 with a degree in Anthropology and Music and earned his medical degree in 1982 from the Penn State College of Medicine.

For more on Dr. Wernovsky, you can click here.

Dr. Ajay Nair (above left)

Dr. Nair is now serving his sixth year as president of Arcadia University.

He has instituted Arcadia UKnighted, a presidential initiative and interactive forum for members of the University community to engage in dialogue and collaborate to enhance Arcadia. Over Dr. Nair’s first year at Arcadia, giving totals were up by nearly 10 percent over the previous year, according to Arcadia’s website.

He has received numerous accolades, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrator’s (NASPA) 2018 Dr. Doris Michiko Ching Shattering the Glass Ceiling Award, and the 2019 Outstanding Allyship Award for his commitment to building bridges for the Asian/Pacific Islander/Desi American communities. That year, NASPA named the Allyship Award after Nair.

In 2020, the Philadelphia Business Journal named Nair a Minority Business Leader and in 2023, he was named to City & State Pennsylvania’s Higher Education Power 100 for spearheading the university’s efforts to combat anti-Black racism.

For more on Dr. Nair, you can click here.

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Photos: Arcadia University