NEW YORK (TIP): South Carolina’s Governor of Indian origin Nikki Haley has been chosen by President elect Donald Trump to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, the transition team announced Wednesday, November 23. She would be the first woman and minority representative to join Trump administration and the first ever Indian-American Cabinet rank official in any administration. Haley had a face-to-face meeting with Trump at Trump Tower in New York last week.

Accepting the offer Haley said in a statement that the US “faces enormous challenges” both at home and internationally. She cited a “sense of duty” in accepting Trump’s offer.

“When the President believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our nation, and to our nation’s standing in the world, that is a calling that is important to heed,” Haley said. “The second is a satisfaction with all that we have achieved in our state in the last six years and the knowledge that we are on a very strong footing.”

Haley will keep serving as governor until the Senate confirms her nomination.

“We still have much to do in South Carolina, and my commitment to the people of our State will always remain unbreakable, both while I continue to hold this office, and thereafter,” she said in a statement.

The Indian American community hailed president-elect Donald Trump’s selection of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to be the next US Ambassador to the UN and expressed the hope that she will do a great job in her new position. Nikki Haley (born Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa; January 20, 1972) is a Republican who has served as the 116^th Governor of South Carolina since 2011. Prior to becoming governor, she represented Lexington County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011.

Haley is the first woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina; at the age of 44, she is the youngest current governor in the United States. She is the second Asian-American of Indian descent to serve as governor in the United States, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. As governor, she also serves as chair, ex-officio, of the board of trustees of the University of South Carolina during her term in office.

Born in Bamberg, the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley’s first job was keeping the books for her family’s clothing store -at the age of 13. She is a proud graduate of Clemson University where she earned a degree in accounting.

Haley and her husband, Michael, a Captain in the Army National Guard and combat veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan‘s Helmand Province, attend Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church in Lexington. The Haleys have two children, Rena, 18, and Naline, 15.