Verma, Richard Rahul, 1968-

<p>Ambassador Richard Verma is Vice Chairman and Partner at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s growth in South Asia. He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017, where he is credited for the historic deepening of bilateral ties. A leading expert on trade and diplomacy in Asia, Ambassador Verma brings 25 years of experience across senior levels of business, law, diplomacy, and the military.</p>

<p>Nominated as U.S. Ambassador to India by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, Ambassador Verma oversaw one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions in the world, including four consulates with staff from nearly every agency in the U.S. Government. During his tenure, he championed historic progress in U.S.-India relations, with critical evolutions to bilateral cooperation in defense, trade, and clean energy. The Ambassador also oversaw an unprecedented nine meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi – leading to over 100 new initiatives and more than 40 government-to-government dialogues.</p>

<p>Ambassador Verma was previously the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, where he led the State Department’s efforts on Capitol Hill. He worked as Senior National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader and also spent time in the House of Representatives. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he served on active duty as a Judge Advocate. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.</p>

<p>The Ambassador also brings to bear a distinguished career in the private sector. He was a partner in a major global law firm for many years, and he also led the South Asia practice of a Washington-based consulting firm, where he helped clients navigate international trade and public policy frameworks across the Indo-Pacific region. He was also a National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and served as a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission led by former Senators Graham and Talent. He is a co-author of their landmark report, “World at Risk.”</p>

<p>In addition to his role at The Asia Group, Ambassador Verma is a Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he supports the India Initiative – a signature program to advance research and teaching on India. The Ambassador also co-chairs the Center for American Progress’ U.S.-India Task Force, which is charting an actionable bilateral agenda to deepen U.S.-India ties.</p>

<p>Ambassador Verma is the recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and was ranked by India Abroad as one of the 50 most influential Indian Americans. Ambassador Verma holds degrees from the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM), American University’s Washington College of Law (JD), and Lehigh University (BS).</p>

<p>On September 18, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Rahul “Richard” Verma, a former State Department official, to be the U.S. ambassador to India. If confirmed, it would be the first ambassadorial post for Verma and he would be the first Indian-American in the post.</p>

<p>Verma was born November 27, 1968, in Edmonton, Canada, where his father was studying. His parents are from the Punjab region of India and his mother was originally from what is now Pakistan, moving after the former British colony of India was partitioned in 1947. The family moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania when Verma was two. His father went on to become a professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and his mother was a special needs teacher.</p>

<p>Verma graduated from Westmont Hilltop High School in 1986 and went to Lehigh University on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. He also worked as an intern for then-Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) while in college. Verma graduated from Lehigh with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1990 and then went to law school at American University, earning a J.D. in 1993.</p>

<p>Following that, Verma served as a country director for the National Democratic Institute in Romania for a year and then went on active duty with the Air Force. He served in the Judge Advocate General Corps from 1994 to 1998 and earned an LL.M from Georgetown during this period.</p>

<p>After his discharge from the service, Verma went to work for the Washington law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, beginning an association that continues to this day. Verma left Steptoe in 2002 to work on the staff of Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), serving as Reid’s foreign policy advisor and senior national security advisor.</p>

<p>He returned to Steptoe as a partner in 2007. In 2008, Verma was named a member of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. Later that year, he joined Obama’s Department of Defense transition team.</p>

<p>Verma was appointed assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs under Hillary Clinton in 2009. His appointment appeared to violate Obama’s self-imposed ban on putting former lobbyists in the government as Verma had lobbied the State Department on behalf of the U.S.-India Business Council. Nonetheless, he was confirmed in the post and subsequently led negotiations with Congress on Iran sanctions and the New START treaty.</p>

<p>Verma returned to Steptoe once again in 2011 as partner and senior counselor and joined the Center for American Progress that year as a senior national security fellow. In 2013, while remaining at Steptoe, Verma also worked for the global strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group as a senior counselor.</p>

<p>Verma was nominated to the New Delhi post when Nancy Powell retired in the wake of the arrest of an Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, in New York. The Indian government reportedly preferred that an Indian-American not be named to the job, but Verma was nominated anyway.</p>

<p>Richard Rahul Verma (born November 27, 1968) is a Canadian-born Indian-American lawyer and the former U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017. Verma previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2011.</p>

<p>Verma currently serves as Vice Chairman of The Asia Group.</p>

<p>Verma’s parents were born in India and lived through the Partition of India. They first immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s. Verma’s father was an English professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown for forty years. His late mother was a special education teacher.</p>

<p>The youngest of five children, Verma grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and attended public school in the Westmont Hilltop School District. Verma holds degrees from Lehigh University (BS, Industrial Engineering), American University Washington College of Law (JD), and Georgetown University (LLM). At Lehigh, Verma was in ROTC, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, and his senior class president.</p>

<p>Verma began his career in the U.S. Air Force as an Air Force judge advocate, serving on active duty from 1994 to 1998. His military decorations include the Meritious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.</p>

<p>Verma later served as the Senior National Security Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, he was a member of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism, and co-authored World at Risk (2008).</p>

<p>After the inauguration of President Barack Obama, he joined the State Department in 2009 as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Secretary Hillary Clinton, replacing Matthew A. Reynolds.</p>

<p>In September 2014, President Obama nominated Verma as the next U.S. Ambassador to India. On December 4, 2014, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted to forward Verma's nomination to the full Senate. On December 9, 2014, Verma was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.</p>

<p>Verma was the first person of Indian descent to hold the position.</p>

<p>As U.S. Ambassador to India, Verma is credited with the historic deepening and expansion of U.S.-India bilateral ties. Verma oversaw one of the largest U.S. diplomatic missions in the world, including four consulates with staff from nearly every agency in the U.S. Government. During his tenure, he championed historic progress in U.S.-India relations. He oversaw several meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi, and created over 100 new initiatives and more than 40 government-to-government dialogues. He was also the first U.S. Ambassador to travel to every Indian state.</p>

<p>Verma stepped down from his post as Ambassador on January 20, 2017 following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.</p>

<p>Verma currently serves as Vice Chairman of The Asia Group. Verma is also an active thought leader and commentator on international relations, international law, trade, and diplomacy. He is a Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He also co-chairs the Center for American Progress’ U.S.-India Task Force and serves on the boards of T. Rowe Price and the National Endowment for Democracy. He is a trustee of Lehigh University, where he gave the 151st commencement address in May 2019.</p>

<p>Verma is married with three children and has a pet fox terrier named Arlo.</p>

<p>He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the State Department's Distinguished Service Medal, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and the Chief Justice John Marshall Lifetime Service Award. He was named by India Abroad magazine as one of the fifty most influential Indian-Americans in the country.</p>