Indian-origin lawyer Mathura Sridharan has been appointed as Ohio’s 12th Solicitor General, a role in which she will represent the state in key appellate cases, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. The announcement was made by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who praised her legal acumen and noted that her appointment came with strong endorsements from previous Solicitors General.
Sridharan, who currently serves as Deputy Solicitor General and leads Ohio’s Tenth Amendment Center, made headlines in 2023 for arguing on behalf of the state in the Supreme Court case Ohio vs EPA. She earned her law degree from New York University in 2018 and holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her prior experience includes clerkships with Judge Steven Menashi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Deborah Batts of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In addition to her legal career, Sridharan has trained in Carnatic music and performed in Chennai’s December music season. She has been married to Ashwin Suresh since 2015.
Following her appointment, some users on X (formerly Twitter) targeted Sridharan with xenophobic remarks, questioning her American identity and criticizing her for wearing a bindi. Comments like “What is that on her forehead?” and “She’s got a permanent dot, huh?” surfaced shortly after the news broke.
Attorney General Yost publicly defended Sridharan, calling out the remarks as ignorant and baseless. “A few commenters have asserted incorrectly that Mathura is not American. She is a United States citizen, married to a U.S. citizen, and the child of naturalized U.S. citizens,” he said. “If her name or her complexion bothers you, the problem is not with her or her appointment.” He reaffirmed her qualifications and noted her prior experience before the Supreme Court.
Sridharan’s appointment marks a significant moment for representation in public legal service, even as it exposes the persistence of cultural bias in public discourse.