Who Is Usha Vance, Wife of Trump's Vice President Nominee JD Vance?

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance Image: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images via AFP

Former US President Donald Trump chose Republican Senator from Ohio, JD Vance, as his nominee for vice president. His wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, who accompanied him at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, is not a politician, but has considerable influence over his career. 

Born in California, Usha is the daughter of Indian immigrants from Andhra Pradesh. According to her LinkedIn profile, she studied at Mt Carmel High School and has an undergraduate degree in history at Yale University in 2003. Later, she pursued an MPhil in early modern history from the University of Cambridge.

Usha attended Yale Law School in 2010-13, where she met JD Vance, who was also a student. According to the New York Times, they met when they both joined a group discussion on ‘social decline in white America’ there. After getting their law degrees, they married in 2014. 

While studying law at Yale University, Usha also served as executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal as well as managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, according to People magazine. And she participated in the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, and Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic during her time at the Yale Law School. 

Usha is a skilled litigator across various sectors, including health care, education and government. She worked as an associate with Munger, Tolles & Olsen LLP. Trump had previously praised her for her stellar CV. She has also served as a law clerk for the United States Supreme Court in 2017-18 and at the District Court of Columbia as well as Kentucky. She has assisted her husband during his Senate election campaigns. He has frequently praised her for her support over the years and refers to her as his ‘Yale spirit guide’. They have three children—two sons and a daughter.