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Renu Khator
WHO: RENU KHATOR, Academic affairs, provost and professor of political science.
WHY: Becomes chancellor of the University of Houston system and president of the University of Houston. First Indian American woman to reach such a position at an American university.
WORTH NOTING: Got married in India at age 18, just 10 days after meeting her suitor, even though she wanted to continue her studies. She earned a master's in the U.S. with her husband's encouragement, and after living in India for five years, returned to the States at the urging of a professor, who told her to get a PhD. Her rise has been rapid both as a scholar and an administrator.
WHAT WAS SAID: The story goes that when Khator first came to the United States in 1974 as a young bride following an arranged marriage, her English was so dodgy that her new husband, Suresh Khator, an engineering student at Purdue University, translated for her while she was interviewed by the dean for school admission. (Times News Network)