H.E. Nirupama Rao assumed her responsibilities as Ambassador of India to the United States in September 2011. On completion of her University studies, and with an M.A. in English Literature, she joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973. In a diplomatic
career spanning over three decades, she served in various world capitals, including Washington, Beijing and Moscow. Ambassador Rao was a Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs (now the Weatherhead Centre) at Harvard University in the early 1990s. She
was also a Distinguished International Executive in Residence at the University of Maryland at College Park in 1999-2000. H.E. Rao has served previously in Washington in the capacity of Minister for Press and Cultural Affairs at the Indian Embassy from 1993
to 1995. On completion of her ambassadorial tenures in Sri Lanka and in China, she was appointed Foreign Secretary, the highest office in the Indian Foreign Service, where she served a two-year term till end-July 2011.
