The Vance India Connection

Usha Chilukuri Vance rose to prominence after her husband, JD Vance, was chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Her family, including her grandaunt, Chilukuri Santhamma, has been strongly rooting for her husband’s victory. At 96 years, Santhamma is an inspiration and has become a household name in Andhra Pradesh.

Born in Machilipatnam in 1929, Santhamma lost her father when she was five months old. She was brought up by her paternal uncle. Well, physics is her passion, and teaching is her purpose in life.

In 1945, she won a gold medal for physics from Maharaja Vikram Deo Varma. She was then an intermediate student at AVN College, Visakhapatnam, then in Madras State.

She has been teaching physics and inspiring young minds for seven decades. Prof Santhamma retired at the age of 60 in 1989. After retirement, she shifted her focus to research and joined Andhra University again as an honorary lecturer, and worked for six years.

She never left teaching and continues to follow her passion at 96. She has even donated her house in Visakhapatnam to the Vivekanand Medical Trust, which currently operates as a clinic there and will soon transform it into a hospital.

What an inspiring personality!