The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has nominated prominent Indian-American legal expert Anjali Chaturvedi as General Counsel in the veterans affairs department. She is the latest from the Indian-American community to be named for a key position in the administration. Biden has also appointed Indian-American scientist Arati Prabhakar as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
According to the White House, Chaturvedi is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The main vision of the US Department of Veterans Affairs is to provide veterans with the world-class benefits and services they have earned. Their vision is to do so by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship.
Meet Anjali Chaturvedi
Chaturvedi has worked in all three branches of the government and in private practice during her career. She was the Assistant General Counsel and Director of Investigations for Northrop Grumman Corporation, before returning to government service. She was leading Northrop Grumman Corporation’s global investigations team.
Chaturvedi had served as an Assistant General Counsel at British Petroleum and as a partner at the Washington, DC law firm of Nixon Peabody. She was a federal prosecutor before entering private practice.
She served both in the District of Columbia and the Northern District of California US Attorneys’ Offices, including as Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Section and Chief of the Organised Crime Strike Force, during her time at the Justice Department.
Chaturvedi, who began her legal career clerking for the Honourable Gregory E. Mize of the District of Columbia Superior Court, also taught trial advocacy and criminal procedure as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and Hastings College of Law.
She was born in Cortland, New York, and is a first-generation American.
A graduate from the Georgetown University Law School and Cornell University, she is a certified yoga teacher and leadership coach.
Chaturvedi currently lives in Chevy Chase, MD with her husband and son.
Prabhakar was nominated by Biden as a top science advisor to the US President on Tuesday, June 21. The decision has been hailed by the White House and the Indian-American community as "historic."
Last week, Indian-American security expert Radha Iyengar was nominated by Biden to the top Pentagon position.
The White House said in a statement last month that Biden is set to nominate Indian-American career diplomat Gautam Rana as the new US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Slovakia.
(With PTI Inputs)