Usha Vance

Usha Vance (born Usha Bala Chilukuri) is a lawyer and the second lady of the United States, known as the wife of Vice President JD Vance and the first Indian American and practicing Hindu to serve in the role. Usha spent her childhood in San Diego, California, where she was raised by Indian immigrant parents. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a degree in history before earning a master’s degree in early modern history from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She later received her law degree from Yale Law School, where she met her future husband.

After law school, Vance built a successful legal career, clerking for future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Judge Amul Thapar and Chief Justice John Roberts. She later worked as an associate at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, handling complex civil litigation and appeals. Her national profile grew during her husband’s political rise, particularly after he was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. She made the decision to step back from her career in law to focus more on family affairs.

As second lady, Vance has focused on childhood literacy and educational initiatives, including launching a national summer reading challenge and hosting the children’s storytelling podcast “Storytime With the Second Lady.”

Vance wed JD Vance in 2014 in an interfaith ceremony after meeting in 2010 at law school. The couple have three children: Ewan Vance (born in 2017), Vivek Vance (born in 2020) and Mirabel Vance (born in 2021). In 2026, they announced they were expecting their fourth child.