WASHINGTON, DC – Richard Verma, who served as U.S. ambassador to India and later as deputy secretary of state, has joined Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service as the Dean’s Distinguished Ambassadorial Fellow.

Verma will be part of the school’s Asian Studies program. This fall, he will teach a graduate seminar on careers and current issues in international affairs. In spring 2027, he will teach a course on U.S.-India relations for undergraduates.

He will also work with students, take part in public events and continue his scholarship and teaching at the school.

Verma served as deputy secretary of state for management and resources from 2023 to 2025. Before that, he was the U.S. ambassador to India, where he headed the U.S. diplomatic mission.

He is currently Chief Administrative Officer at Mastercard, overseeing the company’s law, government affairs and policy, franchise, corporate security, and community and belonging functions. He previously served as Mastercard’s Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy.

Verma is chair of the Board of Advisors of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. He was also a Centennial Fellow at the School of Foreign Service in 2017-18.

Earlier in his government career, Verma served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs and as national security advisor to the Senate Majority Leader. He was also a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission.

He serves on the boards of the Ford Foundation and T. Rowe Price.

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Verma has received the Meritorious Service Medal and the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award, along with other military and civilian honors.

Verma holds a doctorate in international relations from Georgetown University, a law degree cum laude from American University, a master of laws with distinction in international law from Georgetown University Law Center, and a bachelor of science from Lehigh University.