Meet Aruna Miller, the new Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

Aruna Miller took the oath of office yesterday, officially taking her place as the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, the first Asian American to do so. She's the second woman to hold the role in Maryland.

Unlike Governor Wes Moore, this is not Miller's first time in public office. She was appointed to the House of Delegates in 2010, and subsequently re-elected, serving on the Ways and Means Committee and the Appropriations Committee, but served as a government employee before those roles.

Born in Hyderabad, India in 1964, she attended New York public schools in Poughkeepsie.

Julia Nikhinson/AP

"I will never forget my first day of school," she said in her Inauguration day speech. "I couldn't speak a word of English, but I wanted to fit in."

Miller told a story about how she tried to fit in by eating the American food, and cold milk for the first time, but got sick in the classroom.

"By the time we got home, we heard a knock on the door," she continued. "I opened the door and outside, standing in the snow was one of my classmates with a stack full of paintings in her hand, paintings that had hearts, smiley faces, little faces with tears coming down."

"It was in that moment, I knew I belonged in this great country," said Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller.

She got her bachelors degree in civil engineering in 1989 from the University of Missouri-Rolla, now known as the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

"It wasn't jus the first day of school where I felt I didn't belong," said Miller in her speech to thousands at the state Capitol. "I would say I spent most of my life trying to fit into a space that didn't have me in mind - as an immigrant growing up in a new country, or as a female engineer, or in a male dominated field. As an Indian American legislator in a legislature that looked nothing like me."

"It took me a long time to realize that it was never about needing to fit into a space created by others. It was always about having the courage to be my authentic self in every space," said Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller

Miller served as a traffic engineer in the Department of Public Works in LA before moving to Montgomery County in 1990 where she served in different traffic engineering and program manager roles across Montgomery County departments.

She served as a Delegate for District 15, representing Montgomery County for 8 years until January 9, 2019.

Instead of running for re-election in 2018, she ran for Congress to represent the 6th Congressional district, but lost the Democratic primary to now Representative David Trone.

According to her Maryland State Archives profile, in her new role, she'll serve as a member on the Governor's Executive Council, the Subcabinets for International Affairs and for Public-Private Partnerships, and on the Inter-Agency Heroin and Opioid Coordinating Council. She'll serve as Chair of the Maryland Behavioral Health and Public Safety Center of Excellence Advisory Group and of the Governor's Commission to Study Mental and Behavioral Health in Maryland. She'll also be on the Governor's Family Violence Council and the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force.

"Governor Moore and I see you. We hear you. We will fight for you," said Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller