Everything We Know About Usha Vance's Younger Sister Shreya

Usha Vance was thrown into the public spotlight when her husband, JD Vance, rose to national prominence as a bestselling author and later a political figure. She was born in January 1986 to immigrant parents who are both accomplished academics. Her father is a retired mechanical engineer who went on to become a lecturer at San Diego State University, while her mother is the provost of University of California San Diego's Sixth College and has a background in marine molecular biology. The couple emigrated from India to the United States during the 1970s to pursue higher education and start a family. 

"I was a beach kid," Usha said of growing up in San Diego in her interview on Meghan McCain's "Citizen McCain" podcast. "My mom actually did her PhD at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which is part of UCSD." She continued, "She's a marine molecular biologist, and it's right on the water. So I grew up going in with her all the time when she'd go into her lab."

Usha has only one sibling: a younger sister, Shreya Chilukuri, who also pursued an engineering career and now holds a senior role at a Dutch semiconductor company. She and Usha were born just a few years apart and are presumably close. "I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister," Usha, a former attorney and Yale University alum, said in her introductory speech during the 2024 Republican National Convention. (See also: Why JD Vance's wife Usha was a mystery to her former classmates.) While not in the spotlight, it seems as if Shreya is just as successful as her big sister.

As mentioned, Shreya Chilukuri has established an impressive career of her own outside of her sister's fame and accomplishments. She studied mechanical engineering at Duke University in North California, with a secondary major in classical civilizations. During her time at Duke, Chilukuri served as a soccer coach and participated in the university's theater department as well as its student-run record label, Small Town Records. After a brief fellowship in Germany, she worked as a mechanical design engineer in San Diego and worked her way up the ranks to a senior engineering position.

Aside from her career, though, not much is known about Shreya's personal life, such as her political leanings and relationship with Usha, as she chooses to stay out of the spotlight. She has an Instagram account that's been set to private, with only 64 followers and a dozen or more so following count, highlighting her desire to keep her life private.

Although Usha rarely speaks about her sister, the wife of JD Vance has reflected on being raised in a religious household. Growing up, her parents made sure Usha and her sister had the tools and guidance they need to succeed in whatever paths they chose. During her appearance on "Citizen McCain," Usha shared how her parents supported her decision to attend Yale despite the logistical and financial hurdles of moving to the East Coast. "My parents told me I should apply to the schools in San Diego and elsewhere in California, but if there was somewhere that I really wanted to go and there was a really good reason for going somewhere more expensive on the other side of the country, we would make it work," said the clearly exhausted SLOTUS. "I mean, it was a great experience. I'm so glad that I ended up going there."