Who is Richard R Verma? Indian American nominated for top US diplomatic post

Richard R. Verma, an Indian American, was nominated by US President Joe Biden on Friday for a senior diplomatic post in the US Department of State. A press statement from the White House states that Vice President Biden has nominated Verma for the position of Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. Verma is Mastercard's Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Public Policy. 

He would be the most senior Indian American in the State Department if the US Senate approves his nomination for the position of Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

Who is Richard R Verma?
Verma is the global head of public policy at Mastercard and also serves as the company's chief legal officer. While serving under President Obama, he was the US Ambassador to India and Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.

When he was younger, he worked as Senator Harry Reid's National Security Advisor (D-NV). According to the statement, he held the positions of Democratic Whip, Minority Leader, and then-Majority Leader in the Senate all at once.
 
Formerly he was Senior Counsellor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, Partner and Senior Counsellor at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and Vice Chairman of The Asia Group. A former Judge Advocate with the United States Air Force, he is a veteran of the service.

In addition to the Distinguished Service Medal from the Department of State and the International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations, the statement noted that he had earned the Meritorious Service Medal from the United States Air Force.

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He has served on the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism and the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

In addition to his roles as trustee at The Ford Foundation and on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and Lehigh University, he is also involved in a number of other organisations.

In addition, he served as the 25th U.S. Ambassador to India. In September 2014, President Obama nominated him for the position, and in December of the same year, the United States Senate unanimously approved his nomination. In India, Ambassador Verma is in charge of the United States' biggest diplomatic mission, which consists of four consulates and practically every department in the federal government.