When professional squash player Veer Chotrani ’23, BA ’24, tells you he lives out of a suitcase, he’s hardly exaggerating. The elite athlete—who’s currently number 38 in the world—constantly travels the globe to train and compete in tournaments as he climbs the ranks of the Professional Squash Association.
In the past year alone, the sport has taken Chotrani to competitions in Bermuda, New Zealand, and Australia, with training stops in India and the Czech Republic.
In September 2026, Chotrani will represent his native India at the Asian Games in Japan, where he hopes to earn a spot in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics—the first Games ever to feature the sport.
By the time Chotrani arrived on the Hill, he’d already spent much of his life competing at an elite level. He immediately took the number-one spot in the Big Red lineup, earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year and First Team All-American honors his freshman season.
“On the court, I think I’m a creative player with different kinds of shots,” he observes. “I’m also a very calm guy; I try to have an ice-in-my-veins mentality.”
Simon Wheeler, Cornell University
Cornell Provost Kavita Bala speaking with Kalaniyot Sabbatical Scholar Naomi Havron at the Kalaniyot reception Oct. 19. In the background, Kalaniyot Fellow Eden Eran Nagar speaks with Fellow Shachar Yerushalmi.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Seidenberger built Hopper from scratch so students can see the logic on which it is built and play a role in developing it and improving it over the course of his class.