Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America

It is virtually impossible to turn on CNN, read the Wall Street Journal, go to a hospital, attend a university, or browse a bookstore without encountering a sea of Indian names and faces. In her new book Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America, author and journalist Meenakshi Ahamed examines the story of Indian immigration to the United States. As immigration policy again tops the news, the history of Indian immigration to the United States reveals how the Cold War arms race, the rise of Silicon Valley, the development of the modern American health care system, and other factors shaped the development of one of America’s most successful immigrant communities. According to a 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center, the median annual household income for Indian Americans is $100,000, higher than other Asian Americans and the general population, and Indian Americans are more likely to be college educated than the general population. What accounts for Indian Americans' remarkable ability to break into mainstream American culture and their meteoric rise within its ranks? Ahamed’s Indian Genius provides fascinating portraits of the Indian Americans at the forefront of the wave of Indian success stories, drawing on a series of interviews to explore the larger story of the Indian-American community.

Join New America's Future Security Program as they welcome Meenakshi Ahamed to discuss her new book Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America. Ahamed is freelance journalist and author of A Matter of Trust: India–U.S. Relations from Truman to Trump, a sweeping narrative history of the turbulent seventy-year relationship between the two countries. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. She has worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and for New Delhi Television, and has served on the boards of Doctors Without Borders, Drugs for Neglected Diseases, and Vellore Christian Medical College Foundation. Ahamed was born in Calcutta and received an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Participants:

Meenakshi Ahamed
Author, Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America

Moderator:

Peter Bergen
Vice President, New America
Co-Director, Future Security
Professor of Practice, Arizona State University