Inside Life: Ben Carson

Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American politician, public servant, author, and retired neurosurgeon who has served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development since 2017. Married to Candy Carson, and has 3 children. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the Republican primaries in 2016, at times leading nationwide polls of Republicans. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.

Carson became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospitalin 1984 at age 33; he was the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. He was also a professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology, Plastic Surgery, and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Carson's achievements include performing the only successful separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head; performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb; performing the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins; developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors; and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications.

In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities". Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships in recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005. He retired from medicine in 2013. Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations.

In 2001, he was named by CNN and TIME magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists, and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary.

In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, where he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr.

Carson was the featured speaker at the 1997 National Prayer Breakfast. He gave a widely publicized speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast that catapulted him to conservative fame for his views on social and political issues.