Washington: Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of Ohio Senator JD Vance, whom Donald Trump chose as his running mate in the upcoming US presidential elections on Monday, brings a wealth of credentials and a deep connection to Indian values and culture.
A litigator at a national firm, Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants and has an impressive academic background.
She holds a bachelor's degree in History from Yale University and a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, according to the New York Times.
Born Usha Chilukuri, she has carved out a distinguished career in the legal field, having clerked for Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before Kavanaugh's nomination to the Court.
Raised in a suburb of San Diego, California, with a strong emphasis on education and hard work, Usha's academic achievements include serving as Managing Editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and Executive Development Editor of The Yale Law Journal, according to a biography from Munger, Tolles & Olson law firm.
After four years of intense extracurricular activity at Yale, she continued her studies as a Gates fellow at Cambridge, where she engaged with left-wing and liberal groups. She was a registered Democrat in 2014.
According to the New York Times, Usha and JD Vance first met at Yale Law School and were married in Kentucky in 2014, with a Hindu priest presiding over a separate ceremony. The couple has three children together.
Usha Vance has played a subtle yet significant role in her husband's success. She assisted Vance in organizing his thoughts on the social decline in rural white America, which inspired his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted into a film directed by Ron Howard in 2020.
In the past, she has made some rare appearances with Vance as he sought the Ohio Senate seat.
