Usha Vance

Birth Name: Usha Bala Chilukuri

Place of Birth: San Diego, California, United States

Date of Birth: January 6, 1986

Ethnicity: Telugu Indian

Usha Vance is an American attorney. She has been a law clerk for federal judges, including John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amul Thapar.

Usha was born in San Diego, the daughter of Lakshmi, a marine molecular biologist and biochemist, who is a Provost at Sixth College; and Radhakrishna “Krish” Chilukuri, a college lecturer in an aerospace engineering department. Her parents moved from India to the U.S. earlier in the 1980s. They are of Telugu background. Her parents’ roots are in Andhra Pradesh, her father’s from Vadluru, near Tanuku, West Godavari and her mother’s from Pamarru, Krishna. Usha was raised in the Ranchos Peñasquitos neighborhood of San Diego. She is a Hindu.

Usha is married to politician, commentator, venture capitalist, and author JD Vance, who has been a U.S. Senator from Ohio, since January 3, 2023, and is the Republican Party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2024. JD is Catholic. Usha is the first spouse of a U.S. major party nominee for President or Vice President to be of Indian and/or Asian descent.

The name Chilukuri means “belonging to the town/village of Chilukuru.” Usha’s patrilineal line can be traced to Chilukuri Buchipapayya Sastri, who lived in the 17th century, in Saipuram, Vuyyuru Mandal of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh.

Usha’s paternal grandfather was named Chilukuri Rama Sastri/Sastry (the son of Veeravadhan). Rama taught physics at IIT Madras, which has a student award in his memory. Rama’s sister, Chilukuri Santhamma, is considered India’s oldest active professor, at 96 years.

Usha’s paternal grandmother was surnamed Sundari.

Usha’s maternal grandfather was surnamed Yechuri. The name Yechuri means “belong to the town/village of Yechuru.”

Sources: Genealogy of Usha Vance (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com

Birth record of Usha Vance – https://www.familysearch.org