Indian-American astronaut Raja Chari elevated to key rank in US Air Force; who is he

Raja J Chari, a US astronaut of Indian Origin and a member of the US Air Force, has been nominated for a key role in the US Air Force. President Joe Biden has nominated Chari for the rank of Brigadier General in the US Air Force. The nomination needs to be approved by the US Senate before it can be confirmed. The Brigadier General is a one-star General Rank that is just below Major-General and works as a high-level staff level officer.

Hyderabad-born Srinivas Chari, Chari’s father, emigrated to the US after pursuing an engineering degree in the States. Chari was raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and completed his schooling at Columbus High School in Waterloo, Iowa. He then went to the US Air Force Academy in Colorado for his Bachelor’s in Astronautical Engineering, before continuing to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn a master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics.