Usha Chilukuri Vance seems to be well-fitted for her role in politics as the wife of America’s Vice President, JD Vance. Although she wasn’t photographed much by her husband’s side since early 2025, just like Melania Trump, she hasn’t just been sitting idly. In fact, Usha Vance has been focusing on only one task her husband asked of her, and that is to be his chief cheerleader.
At the same time, she has been multi-tasking, spending her free time reading 8th-century literature. Her political life has faced a major update since becoming the second lady. Turns out her life before meeting Vance was also interesting as we take a peek at it.
Usha Vance Had A Stable Childhood, Unlike The Vice President
In 2016, JD Vance described, “Violence and chaos were an ever-present part of the world that I grew up in.” In his best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, he further elaborated on his parents’ divorce, his father’s absence, and his mom’s substance abuse.
On the contrary, Usha had a very different childhood. She grew up in San Diego, raised comfortably by her two loving parents who immigrated from India. Her family has been known for their scholarly achievements. Speaking with Reuters in July 2024, the second lady’s aunt Shanthamma Chilukuri said, “Most of our family is academically strong, and education has been a top priority.”
Usha’s School Days as a Super-smart Student
Usha Vance was sure intelligent and smart, but she was also hard-working and ambitious. According to The List, she studied at Mount Carmel High School and graduated a year early than her peers. Election Daily reports she not only studied but also excelled at Mexican ballet folklórico and participated in the marching band and National Honors Society.
Her extracurricular activities extended from volunteering at local public schools to winning a trivial tournament. According to the New York Times, her childhood friends described her as a “bookworm.” Vikram Rao, a family friend, further added, “By age five or six, she had assumed a leadership role.” Since her early school days, Usha became high-achieving, which ultimately drove her to success.
My daughter Amanda graduated from Mt. Carmel in San Diego in 2002. She pulled out her yearbook and this is Usha Chilukuri in 11th grade. She graduated in 2003. Usha is married to JD Vance. In high school, she was in the marching band, national honors society, and the link crew. pic.twitter.com/jS4aZn8iut
— Tommy Sablan (@tommysablan) July 18, 2024
Usha’s Dynamic Life at Yale
Yale was probably the most important part of Usha Vance’s life, except for her current role as the second lady. She lived a dynamic Ivy League life, and her hunger for success only grew intense here. Her former classmates remember her as a hard-working woman who had her eyes fixed on the prize but also lent others a hand when needed.
Speaking with the BBC in March 2025, one of her former peers said, “She was an excellent student, like, top of our law school class. And sometimes, when students are like that, they also, you know, want to maintain an edge over other students. But she was someone who would always share her outlines [class notes]. They were, like, perfectly organized, you know, color-coded, the works.”
But at Yale, Usha also got to experience something new, hard to label as bad or good. She was listed as Yale’s one of the “Most Beautiful people” in the student tabloid Rumpus 2006 edition. Well, she is beautiful, no doubt, but the title of the article will make anyone cringe now.
According to the Yale Daily News, the title was “Usha Chilukuri, most beautiful TAJ-MA-HOTTIE,” who posed in front of bookshelves in a sleeveless dress for the article photo.
The piece included, “Who wouldn’t jump at the chance for a fling with this smashing senorita?” Well, we can say the lucky Señor is definitely JD Vance.
Usha Vance in Yale’s tabloid magazine Rumpus’ “Most Beautiful People” edition in February 2006 pic.twitter.com/ErPu5mYe5R
— Wade (@2dwade) January 19, 2025
Usha’s Overseas Adventure
During her years at Yale, where she also met her future husband, JD Vance, Usha focused on various activities apart from studies. One of her most memorable endeavors was executed in China after she graduated in 2007 with a degree in history. She headed to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to teach academic English and American studies.
After finishing her Yale life, Usha Vance enrolled at the University of Cambridge’s Clare College. She graduated with a Master of Philosophy degree in early modern history in the 2009-10 academic year. However, maybe the most shocking part was her anthesis of MAGA, as claimed by one of her former classmates. “Scholarly, Left-leaning, cosmopolitan, committed to improving the world, ” that’s how she has been described her her fellow peers.
