The long list of Indian-Americans, who now head elite academic institutions in the United States, has got a new addition. In a
milestone for the Indian-American community in the US, Sujit Choudhry has taken charge of the University of California (UC) Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, one of the top law schools in America. He will be the first academic of Indian origin to hold the deanship of a US law school. The New Delhi-born Sujit Choudhry was previously the Cecelia Goetz Professor at New York University School of Law and founder of its Centre for Constitutional Transitions.
More than 3 million Indians have made the US their home, and have made their mark in diverse fields. In the last few years, many Indian-Americans have reached the highest pinnacle of academic life in the US, including, among others, Nitin Nohria, dean of the Harvard Business School; Sunil Kumar, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business; and Renu Khator, Chancellor of the University of Houston System and president of the University of Houston.
The over 3 million-strong Indian-Americans continue to be one of the most prosperous and highly educated community in the US. Indian or Asian Indians –- as characterised by the US Census Bureau –have the highest rates of college degree holders at a remarkable 64.4%; the national average is around 28%. They also have the highest median family income, and the lowest rate of receiving public assistance.
The interdisciplinary nature of higher education in the US continues to attract a large number of students from India. Currently, there are over 100,000 Indian college students in the US.
According to the Open Doors, an independent not-for-profit organisation that works for international education, around 75% of students from India pursue engineering, math, and science streams, 15% opt for business school, while social science accounts for less that 5%. There is no data for those pursuing law.
The limited number of those studying law makes Choudhry’s appointment a remarkable achievement. In an interview with Berkeley Law’s annual Transcript Magazine, he says that because his parents were professors, and his brother is a professor there was a high chance that he, too, would be an academic. Choudhry completed his B.A (Law) from University of Oxford, received his LLB from the University of Toronto, and his LLM from Harvard University. He has taught at the University Of Toronto Faculty Of Law.
Choudhry’s journey to the zenith of academic life in the US reflects in parts the coming of age of the Indian-American diaspora. As the community grows in influence, it can be expected to play the role of a bridge-builder between India and the US in key sectors like trade and education.
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