Richard Verma was the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs within the United States Department of State.- List of Assistant Secretaries of State for Legislative Affairs :-External links:**...

, at the U.S. Department of State until March 2011. He was nominated by President Obama in 2009.
He is a lawyer with extensive experience in national security and nonproliferation issues.

Life

He graduated from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

, Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

, and American University

American University

American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...

.
He served in the U.S. Air Force, as an Air Force judge advocate.
He worked with the law firm Steptoe & Johnson

Steptoe & Johnson

Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm recognized for representation of clients before governmental agencies, advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, and advice in guiding business transactions...

.

He was a senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Harry Reid

Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...

 from 2002 to 2007.
In 2008, he was a member of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism

Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism was set up "to assess, within 180 days, any and all of the nation's activities, initiatives, and programs to prevent weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism." The Graham/Talent WMD...

.