Ghazala Firdous Hashmi (born July 5, 1964) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n-born American politician and former academic administrator and educator. A Democrat, Hashmi represents the 10th district in the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

; She worked as an educator and academic administrator for 25 years before running for office.

Early life and education

Hashmi was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, in 1964 to Tanveer and Zia Hashmi. She lived at her maternal grandparents' home in

Malakpet Malakpet is one of the suburbs in the old city area of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is famous for TV tower which was built by Teegala Sree Ramulu. This is further divided into two parts, Old Malakpet and New Malakpet and is traditionally cons ...

during her childhood. Her maternal grandfather served in the finance department of the

Government of Andhra Pradesh Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as, GOAP, or, Andhra Government, is the subnational government for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is an elected government with 175 MLAs elected to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh f ...

. Her family moved to the United States in 1969. Hashmi completed a B.A. in English at

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hine ...

where she was a member of the honors program. She earned a Ph.D. in English from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of h ...

on a full scholarship. Her 1992 dissertation was titled ''William Carlos Williams and the American ground of "In the American Grain" and "Paterson."''

Career

Hashmi was an educator and academic administrator for 25 years. She received awards and medals for diversity, inclusion, and multicultural enrichment as an administrator at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College where she served as the founding director of the center for excellence in teaching and learning. In the

2019 Virginia Senate election The 2019 Virginia Senate election was held on November 5, 2019, concurrently with the House election, to elect members to all 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia for the 161st Virginia General Assembly and the 162nd Virginia General Assembly. Pri ...

, Hashmi won

Virginia's 10th Senate district Virginia's 10th Senate district is one of 40 districts in the Senate of Virginia. The district has been represented by Democrat Ghazala Hashmi since 2020, following her 2019 defeat of incumbent Republican Glen Sturtevant. Geography District 10 ...

, defeating incumbent Republican

Glen Sturtevant Glen Howard Sturtevant Jr. (born September 14, 1982) is an American lawyer and Republican politician, who served as a member of the Senate of Virginia (a part-time position) from 2016 to 2020. His Virginia Senate committee assignments included ...

. She is the first Muslim elected to the

. She was officially sworn into office on January 8, 2020.

Personal life

Hashmi moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

in 1991 with her husband, Azhar Rafiq, an associate professor at

VCU School of Medicine The Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine is the medical school of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. It is the largest and oldest continuously operatin ...

. They have two daughters. Hashmi resides in

Midlothian, Virginia Midlothian ( ) is an unincorporated area in Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. Settled as a coal town, Midlothian village experienced suburbanization effects and is now part of the western suburbs of Richmond, Virginia south of the James Rive ...

. Her father is an academic. Hashmi's older brother is a professor in Massachusetts. Hashmi's younger sister is a physician in Florida.

Electoral history

2019 election

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hashmi, Ghazala Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Georgia Southern University alumni Emory University alumni American academic administrators Women academic administrators Indian emigrants to the United States American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in Virginia politics Democratic Party Virginia state senators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American educators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians Women state legislators in Virginia American Muslims Academics from Virginia American women academics Politicians from Hyderabad, India Women educators from Telangana 20th-century American women educators 1964 births 21st-century American women educators