Did You Know Usha Vance, 1st Indian-American Second Lady of US, Has Strong Legacy Rooted In Andhra?- wna24

US Vice President JD Vance is likely to soon embark on his first official visit to India later this month alongside his wife, Usha Vance, as per reports. This also marks the US Vice President’s second foreign visit since taking office. While JD Vance became the third youngest US Vice President at just 40, Usha, at 38 became the first Indian-American Second Lady of the United States.

Originally from Vadluru village in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district, Usha Chilukuri Vance’s upcoming trip will be her first to her ancestral country as the US Second Lady. Raised in San Diego, California, Usha Vance has an impressive academic and professional background. She holds a History degree from Yale University and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge. She was also awarded the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Usha, who was a registered Democrat until 2014, is a distinguished figure in the legal field. During her days at Cambridge, she was associated with left-wing and liberal groups and she had helped JD Vance in his Senate campaigns in 2016 and 2022. Her bright professional journey includes clerkships with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She had also worked as a corporate lawyer and litigator in her initial years. Usha’s expertise has also left a mark in the Supreme Court Advocacy clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance projects.  

Her father Radhakrishna Chilukuri, a Telugu Brahmin, is an IIT Madras graduate and mechanical engineer. He is a lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the San Diego State University. Usha’s mother Lakshi Chilukuri is a well-known marine molecular biologist, biochemist and an academic leader at the University of California, San Diego. The rich educational legacy of the Chilukuri family can be traced back to the 18th century. Chilukuri Buchipapayya Sastri was a renowned scholar who lived in the same village

Usha Vance’s paternal grandfather Chilukuri Rama Sastri used to teach Physics at IIT Madras. Her great-aunt Chilukuri Santhamma, a Physics professor at a private university, has written an English interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text.

Usha met JD Vance when she was studying at Yale Law School and they both got married in 2014. The couple has been blessed with three children.