Richard R. Verma

Some Lesser Known Facts About Richard R. Verma

• Richard R. Verma is an Indian-American lawyer, diplomat, and executive, who was nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden for the post of Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to India.

• He belongs to a family of Indian descent. His father belonged to Apra village in Jalandhar, Punjab, and his mother belonged to Chayam Mohalla in Jalandhar. His parents moved from India to the United States in the early 1960s. After he was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to India, he made a visit to his maternal ancestral home in Jalandhar after forty years. ^[7]The Indian Express

• In 1993, he became the Country Director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Bucharest, Romania. After working there for one year, he stepped down from the position in 1994.

• From 1994 to 1998, he served as an Air Force judge advocate in the United States Air Force. He also served as a captain in the United States Air Force.

• From 1998 to 2002, he worked as an attorney for Steptoe & Johnson LLP, an international law firm, and in 2007, he became a partner in the company. In 2011, he was appointed as the Senior Counselor at the company.

• In 2002, he was appointed as the senior national security advisor to Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader. In 2007, he stepped down from the position.

• In 2008, he was appointed as a member of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism.

• In 2008, he co-authored a book titled ‘World At Risk’ by Bob Graham and Jim Talent.

  

• On 3 April 2009, he began to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs in the U.S. Department of State.

• In 2011, he became a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

• In 2011, he served as Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.

• The then President of the United States, Barack Obama, nominated him for the position of U.S. Ambassador to India before the Senate in September 2014.

• On 9 December 2014, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the position of U.S. Ambassador to India.

• On 16 January 2015, he was appointed as U.S. Ambassador to India. He was the first person of Indian ancestry to hold the position of U.S. Ambassador to India.

  

• During his stint as the U.S. Ambassador to India, he made historic progress in strengthening the relations between India and the United States. Many meetings held between Barack Obama and Narendra Modi were supervised by him.

• As the U.S. Ambassador to India, he took more than 100 initiatives and over 40 government-to-government dialogues to deepen the ties between India and the USA.

• During his tenure, he visited every state in India and became the first U.S. Ambassador to India to do so.

• On 9 July 2015, he attended the FACTA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) signing event.

  

• He served in the position of U.S. Ambassador to India till 20 January 2017.

• In 2017, he began to serve as the vice-chairman of the Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm in the USA. He was held in charge of supervising the South Asia practice of the firm and took care of the clients across the Indo-Pacific.

• In 2017, he became a centennial fellow at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

• In 2017, he became the c0-chairperson of the Center for American Progress U.S.-India Task Force.

• In April 2018, he was appointed as Non-Executive Director of the T. Rowe Price Group in Baltimore, Maryland Area, United States. He has also served as one of the board members of the T. Rowe Price Group and the National Endowment for Democracy.

• He is a trustee of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. In May 2019, he gave the 151st commencement address at the University.

  

• In October 2020, he began to work as the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy at Mastercard, an international payment-processing corporation.

• He is also known for being a senior fellow of Science and International Affairs at the Belfer Center.

• In May 2022, he was appointed as one of the members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. He has also worked as a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission.

• In December 2022, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, decided to nominate Richard R. Verma for the position of Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

• In March 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed him for the position of Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources by a vote of 67-26.

• According to Richard R. Verma, he is a foodie and loves to eat Indian food including Dal Makhni, Butter Chicken, and Biryani.