Upendra Chivukula is the first and only South-Asian representative in the history of the state legislature. Representing the 17th legislative district, Chivukula was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2002 and is currently serving his fourth consecutive term. He has been the Assembly’s Deputy Speaker since 2007 and is a member of the Commerce and Economic Development Committee and the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, the latter of which he is the Chair. Chivukula was Mayor of Franklin Township in 2000, Deputy Mayor in 1998, and served on the Franklin Township Council from 1997 to 2005. He has served on various Franklin Township committees, as well as on the Somerset County Affordable Housing Board of Trustees and the Somerset County and Middlesex County Cultural and Historic Commission. He was appointed by former Governor Florio to be a public member of the New Jersey State Board of Social Workers, where he served from 1994 to 1997, and was a member of the delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1996 and 2000. Assemblyman Chivukula received a B.E.E. (Electrical Engineering) from Guindy’s Engineering College and M.E.E. from the City College of New York. He is the co-author of a six-book engineering series, Supplier Management and Best Manufacturing Practices. Chivukula is currently Chairman of Rangam Consultants, Inc., an information technology firm. He has worked for AT&T Bell Labs as senior management consultant and systems engineer (1981-1983), AT&T Technologies developing the Bell Communications Research account and marketing computers (1983-1984), AT&T Information Systems as an account executive (1985-1987), and for AT&T Microelectronics as senior product planner (1988). In 2004, Chivukula was a leading force in the creation of the bipartisan, bicameral Legislative Caucus on Science and Technology, a panel charged with enhancing the state’s position as a leader in research, technological development, and innovation.