Jennifer L. Lee ’92

Jennifer died July 23, 2024, after a nearly two-year battle with glioblastoma.  She is survived by her parents, John and Lina, her brother John, and her nephew Kyle.

Jennifer was born in Niskayuna, NY, but lived in Silver Spring, MD through her high school years.  After graduation from Princeton, Jenny obtained a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She then served her country as a civilian intelligence analyst/computer specialist for the Department of Defense.  She spent most of her career in Europe, starting in Naples Italy, followed by Cambridge UK, and finally Wiesbaden Germany.  There she worked in Navy and Army offices, and was awarded various job performance awards.  Notably, she had a natural proficiency in picking up foreign languages quickly and speaking them fluently.  She immediately learned Italian and German upon arrival, and used her facility to easily befriend and work with the uniformed and non-uniformed Americans, especially those on temporary duty. She was able to establish long-term residency in each location, and loved interacting with locals in their native language.  Jenny retuned to the US in 2019, taking a position at Ft. Belvoir VA.

Outside of work, Jenny was very musically engaged. In Europe she would join local church choirs, and went with them on pilgrimages to Lourdes meeting choirs from over the world.  Through her high school years she trained in classical piano, and became quite proficient. Especially during the Covid lockdown Jenny would enjoy performing Mozart piano-violin duets with her preteen nephew Kyle.  Jenny never had children, so she doted on Kyle and guided his musical violin development.  Finally, Jenny was a great food lover.  She enjoyed judging all cuisines, especially those she encountered in Europe, as well as her native Chinese.  And she enjoyed cooking many of these cuisines.

Jenny’s personality and character were best exemplified by her struggle against brain cancer.  During her many treatments at NIH, she was still able to make close friendships with everyone on the teams that treated her in spite of the cancer affecting her speech center.  Her cheery disposition and humor impressed everyone, including the doctors, nurses, speech and physical therapists, and administrators.  However, it was a fellow Princetonian that became her most memorable friend.  In addition to experimental therapies, Jenny needed to have a risky brain operation to retain her speech capability, and her NIH surgeon was Dr. Desmond A. Brown MD (Rutgers), PhD (Princeton 2014). The brain operation temporarily saved Jenny’s speaking ability, and added several months of precious life.  At the end Jenny hoped the results of her operation will eventual help Dr. Brown and the NIH research team to find treatments and cures for glioblastoma.

The Class of 1992 extends its deepest sympathies to Jenny’s family.