Seth L. Elan ’79

Seth died March 26, 2021, of brain cancer in Washington, D.C., where he had lived since 1988. 

He entered Princeton with the Class of 1978 and a love of German culture and language. Freshman year he worked for the Prince covering sports and later joined Colonial Club.

Seth made substantial use of his degree in Germanic languages and literature, recently completing a translation of a modern German novel. He earned a master’s degree in computer science as well as an MBA. Multi-lingual, Seth also had strong proficiency in Russian. His career included work at the National Security Agency, and work as a financial analyst and journalist. He considered his most important work to have been at the Library of Congress’ Federal Research Division, from which he retired in 2016. 

Seth characterized serving as an Alumni Schools Committee interviewer and as manager of the fiction book club of the Princeton Club of Washington as his way to give back.

Seth is survived by his wife, Janice; their son Nicholas ’11; his mother Sylvia; and extended family for whom he was a constant source of laughter. The class extends its deep condolences.