Elena Kagan ’81 Named As Sachs Scholar

Elena Kagan ’81, a history major from New York City, has been named this year’s Daniel M. Sachs ’60 Graduating Scholar. The fellowship, one of Princeton’s most prestigious awards, will enable her to study for two years at Worcester College, Oxford.

Last year’s editorial page editor of the Daily Princetonian, Kagan is writing her senior thesis on the Socialist Party in New York City from 1900 to 1930 and she plans to study the history of British and European trade unionism during her time at Oxford. Last summer she worked as a deputy press secretary in the unsuccessful Senate campaign of Rep. Liz Holtzman, and in the summer of 1978 she served as a legislative intern for Rep. Ted Weiss. Kagan plans a career in government.

The Sachs fellowship was established by members of the Class of 1960 and other friends to honor the star athlete and Rhodes Scholar whose promising career was cut short by cancer at age 28. It is awarded annually to a senior whose prospective career “would be most likely to have consequences of value to the public.”

This was originally published in the February 9, 1981 issue of PAW.