She told TOI: “Usha is the granddaughter of Rama Sastry, my husband Subramanya Sastry’s eldest brother. I am happy she has inherited the sharp intellect and acumen that runs in our family. Both my husband and his elder brother (Usha’s grandfather) served as university professors. Our family also holds deep societal concerns. My husband, in fact, spent two years in jail during the Emergency as he was an RSS worker.”
Long before Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Ohio Senator and Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, gained prominence, her grandaunt, 96-year-old Chilukuri Santhamma, was already well-known in Andhra Pradesh. Despite her age, Santhamma continues to teach physics at a private university in Vizianagaram. She is also a philanthropist, having donated her house in Visakhapatnam to the Vivekanand Medical Trust for a clinic, which will soon become a hospital.
When Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump chose Usha’s husband as his running mate, Santhamma expressed her happiness for her grandniece. She sent her blessings to Usha and wished her husband success in the upcoming US elections in November. “It is a proud moment for the family. I hope they will contribute to India once they win the election and promote the profound philosophies of Hinduism in the US,” she said.
Santhamma travels 60 km to teach at Centurion University. When asked why she continues to teach at 96, she said it keeps her motivated. “As long as you are healthy, you should do good for society. Otherwise, as the saying goes, an idle mind can easily become the devil’s workshop,” she said.
Usha Vance‘s parents moved to the U.S. in the late 1970s and now teach engineering and molecular biology in San Diego. While Usha studied at Yale and Cambridge, her father and grandfather were affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India’s premier engineering college. Her younger sister works as a mechanical engineer with a semiconductor company in San Diego, and her aunt is a medical professional in Chennai.
Originally from the village of Vadduru in Andhra Pradesh, the family moved to Chennai when Usha’s paternal grandfather, Ramasastry Chilukuri, began teaching at IIT Chennai around its establishment in 1959. In his honour, the IIT now awards a student prize named after Ramasastry, who taught physics.