Indians are proud of Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance: Second Lady of the United States

Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

In the last week of March 2025, I visited Tanuku, a place located in the West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh: a women's college, namely Smt. Kondepati Sarojini Devi Mahila Kalasala UG and PG (AUTONOMOUS) Tanuku, popular as  SKSD, Women’s College, invited me to be the Chief Guest at the UGC-sponsored national seminar. I stayed three days in Tanuku, in the guest house of the women's college, where the hospitality arranged by the college authorities was excellent. In addition to delivering talk on inaugural day and valedictory day, one day I did a study on women self-help groups in Tanuku arranged by the Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad of the District. During my stay in the district, I learned about Usha Vance, the second lady of the present USA who married Vice-president JD Vance.  JD and Usha Vance's love story began at Yale Law School, where they met and became friends despite their different backgrounds.

Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance (born January 6, 1986) is an American lawyer. Her parents are Lakshmi (Yechuri) and Radhakrishna "Krish" Chilukuri, Telugu Indians who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s from Andhra Pradesh. Her father is a mechanical engineer from IIT Madras and a lecturer at San Diego State University, and her mother is a molecular biologist and head at the University of California, San Diego. Usha Vance's parents are Telugu (by caste Brahmin) from the West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. Her paternal ancestry can be traced to Chilukuri Buchipapayya Sastri (18th century), who lived in Saipuram in Vuyyuru Mandal of Krishna district. Some of her paternal family members later migrated to Vadluru near Tanuku in West Godavari district. Her mother, Lakshmi, is from Pamarru in Krishna district. Her family is known for its academic background (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usha_Vance). Some more lines about her from the government website, whitehouse.gov/administration/usha-vance/, are presented here.

“Usha Vance is the proud wife of Vice President JD Vance and the mother of their three beautiful children, Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel.

A native of San Diego, California, Ms. Vance is an experienced litigator whose work involves complex civil litigation and appeals in various industries. Ms. Vance also clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before that, Ms. Vance clerked for Judge Amul Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Though Usha and JD met while attending Yale Law School, Usha also earned her bachelor's degree from Yale University and her master's degree from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

In her free time, Ms. Vance is a trustee of the Washington National Opera and has served on the board of the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association and as secretary of the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra”.

When I learned about Usha Vance in Tanuku, West Godavari district of Andhra Preash, I was excited and consulted different websites to learn more about her. So, I presented a few lines about her here for the benefit of readers.