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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JANUARY 14, 2022 | The Indian Eye 20

BidEn adMinisTraTion

Us President names Geeta rao Gupta,

Jainey Kumar Bavishi, arun venkataraman

and viquar ahmad to key posts

OUR BUREAU er for the Lancet-SIGHT Commis- al anthropology from Duke University. Clerk for Judge Jane A. Restani at the
sion on Health, Gender Equality and Arun Venkataraman, nominee US Court of International Trade. Ven-
Washington, DC
Peace. Previously, Dr. Gupta was a for Assistant Secretary of Commerce, kataraman holds a JD from Columbia
resident Joe Biden has nomi- Visiting Scholar at Stanford Universi- has over 20 years of experience ad- Law School, a Master of Arts in Law
nated four more Indian Amer- ty and also served as co-Chair of the vising companies, international orga- and Diplomacy from the Fletcher
Picans for key posts, pushing the Gender-Based Violence Task Force of nizations and the US government on School of Law and Diplomacy, and a
number of people of Indian descent the World Bank. international trade issues. He is cur- BA from Tufts University.
working in Biden-Harris administra- Dr. Gupta was awarded a PhD in rently Counselor to the Secretary of Viquar Ahmad, nominee for
tion close to a record 50. Geeta Rao Psychology from Bangalore Univer- Commerce, advising the Department Assistant Secretary of Commerce,
Gupta has been named Ambassador sity and a Master of Philosophy and on trade and other international eco- has held multiple leadership roles
at Large for Global Women’s Issues, Master of Arts from the University of nomic matters. in the US government over the
while Jainey Kumar Bavishi would be Delhi in India. Before joining the Biden-Harris past two decades. He served as
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Jainey Bavishi, nominee for As- Administration, Venkataraman was a the Deputy Chief Financial Offi-
Oceans and Atmosphere. sistant Secretary for Oceans and At- Senior Director at Visa, leading global cer of the US House of Represen-
Arun Venkataraman has been mosphere at Commerce Department government engagement strategy on tatives over the past four years; his
nominated to be Assistant Secretary currently serves as the Director of a range of international policy issues responsibilities included manage-
of Commerce and Director General the New York City Mayor’s Office of including digital economy, trade, tax ment of Congress’ operating budget.
of the US and Foreign Commercial Climate Resiliency. In this role, she and sanctions. Before returning to the House,
Service, while Viquar Ahmad would leads a cross-disciplinary team that He previously served as Trade & Ahmad provided counsel to the De-
serve as Assistant Secretary of Com- prepares the city for the impacts of Investment Policy Advisor at Steptoe partment of Homeland Security’s
merce and as Chief Financial Officer climate change through science-based & Johnson LLP, where he counseled (DHS) senior leadership on the bud-
at Commerce Department. analysis, policy, program, and project multinational firms and other organi- get decision-making, and oversight on
The White House sent their nom- development, and capacity building. zations on e-commerce, intellectual a nearly $70 billion budget of its com-
inations for confirmation to the Sen- During the Obama Administra- property rights, and US and foreign ponent agencies.
ate Tuesday. tion, Bavishi served as the Associate trade policies. His leadership enabled DHS to
While at the UN Foundation, Dr. Director for Climate Preparedness at While at the Office of the US successfully meet response and re-
Gupta founded and served as Execu- the White House Council on Environ- Trade Representative (USTR), he led covery efforts to catastrophic natural
tive Director of the 3D Program for mental Quality and Director of Exter- the development and implementation disasters, thwart cybersecurity threats,
Girls and Women, according to her nal Affairs and Senior Policy Advisor of US-India trade policy as the Direc- clean-up the largest maritime oil spill
official bio. She currently serves as co- at the National Oceanic and Atmo- tor for India, for which he received the in US history, and recapitalize critical
chair of the WHO Independent Over- spheric Administration (NOAA). agency’s Kelly Award for outstanding multi-billion-dollar national security assets.
sight and Advisory Committee for Bavishi also served as the Execu- performance and extraordinary lead- Ahmad has been recognized with
health emergencies, chairs the Global tive Director of R3ADY Asia-Pacific, ership. excellence awards, including the US
Advisory Board of WomenLift Health, focused on enhancing disaster risk re- Venkataraman also served as Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public
a new initiative to promote women’s duction and resilience in the Asia-Pa- Associate General Counsel, repre- Service Medal.
leadership in global health, and serves cific region, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. senting the United States in litigation He earned a bachelor’s degree
as a member of the Board of UBS Bavishi has a Master’s degree in before the World Trade Organization with honors from the University of
Optimus Foundation and of the Ad- city planning from the Massachusetts and in negotiations on international Texas at Austin and a master’s degree
visory Board of Merck for Mothers. Institute of Technology and a Bache- trade agreements. in Public Administration from the
She also serves as a Commission- lor’s degree in public policy and cultur- He began his career as a Law George Washington University.

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