Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is an American politician of Indian origin who is the 55th governor of Louisiana. Upon being elected the governor in 2007, he became the youngest governor in the country at 36 and the first Indian-American governor in history. He is also Louisiana's first non-white governor since P. B. S. Pinchback’s short tenure during Reconstruction. Born to Indian immigrants in Louisiana, Jindal received a typical American upbringing as his mother wanted to ensure that her children fit in well with the others in the American society they grew up in. He was a bright student who excelled in academics and graduated from high school at the top of his class. He went on to study biology and public policy at Brown University. As a college student he developed an interest in politics and led Brown’s College Republicans student group. Wishing to further his education, he applied to, and was accepted by both Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School. However, he decided to go to Oxford, from where he received his M.Litt. degree in political science. He eventually entered into politics and served as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation during the Bush administration. Later on he was elected as the governor of Louisiana. In June 2015 he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election.