Richard R. Verma is an Indian-American lawyer, diplomat, and executive. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the United States Ambassador to India. In 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed him as Under Secretary of State for Management and Resources.
Wiki/Biography
Richard Rahul Verma was born on Wednesday, November 27, 1968, in Edmonton, Canada (54 years old; as of 2022). His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA. He went to the Westmont Summit School District in Pennsylvania. From 1986 to 1990, he studied for a Bachelor of Science degree at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1993, he graduated cum laude with a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, DC. From 1996 to 1998, he studied for a master’s degree in international law at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Georgetown University in May 2020 with a doctorate in government and international relations.
appearance
Height (approximately): 6′
Weight (approximately): 75kg
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye color: black
family
He was born into a Punjabi family in Pennsylvania, USA.
Parents and siblings
His father, Kamal D. Verma, was an English professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown for about forty years.
Richard R. Verma and his father
His mother, Gayatri Devi, was a special education teacher who died in 2011. His father used to live in Apura village in Jalandhar, Punjab and his mother used to live in Chayam Mohalla in Jalandhar. In the early 1960s, his parents immigrated to the United States. In 2015, he returned to his ancestral home in Jalandhar after nearly 40 years. He has four siblings: Rita Orren, Roma Murthy, Rajiv Verma and Amita Verma; he is the youngest child of his parents.
Richard R. Verma and family
wife and children
His wife Pinky Verma (also known as Melineh B. Verma) is a lawyer. The couple has three children; two girls named Lucy Verma and Zoe Verma, and a boy named Dylan Verma.
Richard R. Verma with wife and children
Profession
early career
From 1993 to 1994, he served as Country Director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Bucharest, Romania. In 1994, he began serving in the United States Air Force as an Air Force Judge Advocate. From 1994 to 1998, he served as a captain in the United States Air Force. In 1998, he began practicing with Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, DC. In 2002, he began serving as senior national security adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In 2008, he became a member of the Committee on the Prevention of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism. In 2009, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the Department of State. In 2011, he began working as a senior consultant at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.
U.S. Ambassador to India
In September 2014, he was nominated by then US President Barack Obama as the next US Ambassador to India. On December 9, 2014, he was elected by the United States Senate as the United States Ambassador to India. He was the first person of Indian descent to hold this position.
On July 9, 2015, he signed FACTA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act).
Richard R. Verma at the FACTA signing ceremony in 2015
While in this role, he reportedly made historic progress in strengthening ties between India and the United States. He oversaw numerous meetings between Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To improve relations between the two countries, he proposed more than 100 initiatives and more than 40 inter-governmental dialogues. He was the first American ambassador to visit every state in India. Resigned as ambassador on January 20, 2017.
Other positions
In 2017, he began serving as Vice Chairman of the Asia Group, leading the South Asia business and focusing on strengthening the company’s ability to provide innovative solutions and meaningful insights to customers in the Indo-Pacific region. He serves as a senior fellow in science and international affairs at the Belfer Center. In 2017, he joined the Walsh School of Foreign Service as a Centennial Fellow. In 2017, he was appointed co-chair of the Center for American Progress’s U.S.-India Working Group. In April 2018, he was appointed to the boards of T. Rowe Price Group and the National Endowment for Democracy. In May 2019, he delivered the 151st commencement address as a trustee of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. In October 2020, he was appointed chief legal officer and global head of public policy at international payments processing company Mastercard. In May 2022, he began to serve as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Committee. He is also a former member of the Committee on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism.
deputy secretary of state
In December 2022, he was nominated by US President Joe Biden to serve as Under Secretary of State for Management and Resources. In March 2023, the Senate confirmed him to this position by a vote of 67 to 26.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- While serving as a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate from 1994 to 1998, he received many honors and accolades, including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
- He is a recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Service Medal, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and the Chief Justice John Marshall Lifetime Service Award.
- In 2007, India Abroad named him one of the 50 most influential Indian Americans.
salary
As of 2021, he serves as an independent director at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, earning an annual salary of $387,979.
Facts/Trivia
- Richard R. Verma is also known as Rich Verma.
- He is a member of the Democratic Party.
- In 2008, he co-authored a book with Bob Graham and Jim Talent called “The World at Risk.”
Cover of the 2008 book “The World at Risk”
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet and considers himself a foodie. Some of his favorite Indian dishes are Dal Makhni, Butter Chicken and Biryani.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education