Seth Shostak

Seth Shostak was born in a Jewish family in Arlington County, Virginia, the son of Arthur and Bertha Shostak (née Gortenburg); his father was an electrical engineer. He earned his BS in physics from Princeton University and a PhD in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology.

Shostak used radio telescopes in the US and the Netherlands, searching for clues to the ultimate fate of the universe by analyzing galaxy motion. In 1999, he produced twelve 30-minute lectures on audio-tape and video titled "The Search for Intelligent Life in Space" for The Teaching Company. An updated overview about the search for extraterrestrial life was presented in 2019.

SETI Institute

Since 2001, he has been the senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to "explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe". SETI Institute, located in Mountain View, California, employs over 50 researchers that study all aspects of the search for life, its origins, the environment in which life develops, and its ultimate fate.

He was the chair of the International Academy of Astronautics SETI Permanent Committee from 2003-2012.

Seth became interested in electronics and amateur radio as a young student.

Shostak's hobbies include film making, railroading, and computer animation. While working at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, he founded DIGIMA, a computer animation company. He is a brother of Robert Shostak, developer of the Paradox relational database.

In the spring of 1988 Seth left Groningen to help his brother, who was then working on image database software in Silicon Valley.

According to his C.V., Shostak has a considerable body of creative writing, mostly for corporate clients. He was also "idea man" behind a plan to build a large space and technology theme park in The Netherlands and also the Air and Space Exhibit at the California Science Center, where he also serves on the board.