Her parents, Chilukuri Radhakrishna and Lakshmi, moved to the US in 1980. Usha was born and raised there

Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick JD Vance, comes from an illustrious family of academics in Visakhapatnam, relatives say.

Sastry’s younger brother, Dr Chilukuri Subramanya Sastry, retired as professor in the Telugu Department at Andhra University (AU) and passed away in June 2009. He was a gold medallist in BA (Telugu) and the chief of the RSS unit in Andhra Pradesh.

His wife, Prof (retired) Chilukuri Shantamma, 96, lives in Abid Nagar and continues to take classes. Speaking to The Indian Express, she said, “I never met Usha but I know all about her. I always knew that she would excel academically and in any profession she chooses. You see, it runs in the family. Her great grandfather, her grandfather, her father – are all toppers. She follows in their footsteps.”

“I came to know several years ago that she was married to a well-known political leader in the US… It is no wonder that she is a super achiever. Our entire family excels in academics. I am 96 but I still travel 140 kilometres to and fro to teach physics as it is my favourite subject and teaching is my passion. My husband was a Telugu subject topper in Andhra University, and later in his life, he joined the RSS and was chief of the Andhra Pradesh state unit. He used to say that education would break the shackles of social and economic barriers, and dedicated his life to promoting education to all classes of people,” she said.

“I wish to convey to Usha to support her husband as she has been doing, uphold Hindu values, support Hindus in the US and help them if they encounter any problems in practicing their religion,” she said.