The Inspiring Education and Career Path of Ben Carson

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., is a celebrated figure known for his remarkable achievements in neurosurgery, his foray into politics, and his dedication to philanthropy. His journey, marked by overcoming adversity and a relentless pursuit of excellence, is a testament to the power of education, faith, and hard work. This article explores Dr. Carson's early life, education, groundbreaking medical career, transition to politics, and his enduring legacy.

Early Life and Overcoming Adversity

Benjamin Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951. Raised by a single mother, Sonya Carson, young Benjamin experienced dire poverty throughout his childhood. His parents divorced when he was eight years old, and thereafter he lived with his mother and brother, spending a brief period in Boston and later returning to Detroit. Sonya, who had only a third-grade education herself, worked tirelessly at two and sometimes three jobs to keep their family off welfare. She instilled in her sons the belief that education and faith in the Lord were the channels that would change the course of their lives and end the cycle of poverty for her family.

Despite his potential, Carson performed poorly in school in his early years. After getting a report card in the fifth grade that showed he was doing poorly in every subject, Carson's mother instituted new rules. She required her sons to read two books a week and to write book reports about them, in addition to their regular homework. She banned television and would not let them play outside until their homework was done. This discipline ignited a love of reading and learning in young Benjamin. As Carson later detailed in his autobiography, his mother was frugal with the family’s finances, cleaning and patching clothes from the Goodwill in order to dress the boys. The family would also go to local farmers and offer to pick vegetables in exchange for a portion of the yield. Sonya would then can the produce for her children’s meals. Sonya also taught her boys that anything was possible.

Education: From Bottom of the Class to Yale University

Inspired by the missionaries who visited his church, Carson dreamed of becoming a doctor from the time he was eight years old. By the next school year, Carson jumped from the bottom of his class to the top.

A fifth-grade science teacher, Mr. Jake, was really the first teacher to express confidence in his academic abilities because Carson was the only person who could identify a rock, which was obsidian and it was because of the reading that he had been doing. He also received encouragement from his band director, who taught him not to settle for anything but the best. In high school, he pursued his dream, encouraged by his biology teacher, who put him to work as a lab assistant. Within a year, Carson was amazing his teachers and classmates with his academic improvement.

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Carson attended Yale University on a scholarship, where he graduated with a degree in psychology. While at Yale, he met Lacena (“Candy”) Rustin; the couple married in 1975 and had three children. He entered the University of Michigan Medical School, intent on becoming a psychiatrist. After classes started, however, he redirected his studies to neurosurgery. Following his graduation from medical school, Carson became the first black neurosurgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

A Groundbreaking Medical Career

After completing his residency in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland, Carson's career trajectory soared. In 1984, after a brief stint as a senior registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, part of the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Center in Nedlands, Western Australia, Carson became director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. At age 32, he was named director of pediatric surgery, the youngest director in the hospital's history. He was one of the youngest doctors in the United States to earn such a title. He later also held professorships in plastic surgery, oncology, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Carson served as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Pioneering Neurosurgical Procedures

Carson gained international recognition for his groundbreaking work in neurosurgery. In his successful separation of occipital craniopagus twins in 1987, Carson used a radical approach in which the twins’ body temperatures were lowered to the point of circulatory arrest. In 1987, Carson led the team that separated the Binder twins, who were joined at the head. He also performed the first intra-uterine procedure to relieve pressure on the brain of a hydrocephalic fetal twin. The success of the procedure and the reconstructive techniques employed gained Carson world renown as a pediatric neurosurgeon.

In 1997, in a 28-hour-long operation, he led a team of South African and Zambian surgeons in a separation of twins conjoined at the top of the head (type 2 vertical craniopagus twins). Carson was also known for having performed the first successful rescue of a hydrocephalic twin using an intrauterine shunt. The shunt served to drain fluid under high pressure away from the developing brain of the fetus and into the amniotic cavity of the mother. Carson’s techniques for hemispherectomy and craniofacial reconstructive surgery were influential in the fields of neurosurgery and plastic surgery.

Recognition and Accolades

Carson is one of the most noted neurosurgeons in the world and an author of three books: The Big Picture, Carson's perspective on life's priorities, race, society, success, and living a life of faith; Think Big, his personal formula for success; and Gifted Hands, the story of his medical accomplishments. He has written more than 100 neurosurgical publications. In 2000, the Library of Congress selected Carson as one of its “Living Legends.” The following year, CNN and Time magazine named Carson as one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists. In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP. In February 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Carson the Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Transition to Politics

In 2012 Carson published America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great (cowritten with his wife), a work reflecting his growing interest in politics. The following year he appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast, a traditionally nonpartisan event organized by the Family, a Christian movement. Pres. Barack Obama, who was in attendance, and the resulting media attention helped make Carson a rising star in conservative circles. In mid-2013 he retired as a surgeon, and the following year he joined the Fox News Channel as a commentator. In that role, he expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion and claimed that homosexuality is a choice. He also was highly critical of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

With his conservative agenda, Carson initially proved popular with Republican voters, and by October 2015 he was among the party’s front-runners. However, soon thereafter his campaign began to struggle when questions mounted concerning his grasp of foreign policy. In addition, his debate performances were criticized for a perceived lack of energy. After failing to win any states a month into the primary election season, Carson formally suspended his campaign in early March 2016. He was a vocal supporter of eventual winner Donald Trump, who in December 2016 announced that he would nominate Carson to serve as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

In 2016, Dr. Carson accepted the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Trump administration. In March 2017 Carson was confirmed by the Senate, 58-41, and took office shortly thereafter. In an effort to promote self-sufficiency, Carson supported rent increases for those receiving federal housing assistance or living in public housing properties. He also sought to reduce housing regulations, including those designed to end discrimination. Such moves were met with opposition, as critics alleged that he failed to understand the complexities of the issues. In a February 2019 interview Carson suggested that he would leave HUD at the end of Trump’s term in 2021. In March 2020 he was appointed to the government’s task force handling the coronavirus pandemic. After completing his tenure as the 17th Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2021, Dr. Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute (ACI).

The American Cornerstone Institute and Enduring Legacy

After completing his tenure as the 17th Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2021, Dr. Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute (ACI). Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., is Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute, a new think tank whose mission is to promote the four founding principles which are cornerstones of our country: faith, liberty, community, and life as well as pursue common sense solutions that challenge conventional groupthink.

The Carson Scholars Fund

Dr. Carson and his wife, Candy Carson, co-founded the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. Candy’s passion, however, lies first and foremost in fostering a better future for America’s children. That culminated in the cofounding, with her husband Ben, of the Carson Scholars Fund over 25 years ago. The organization has awarded more than 11,000 scholarships and has paid out more than $9.5 million. In honor of that, the organization has now awarded a total of more than 11,000 scholars, as well as more than $8 million in scholarships. Before the end of this year, the Carson Scholars will have installed more than 270 Ben Carson Reading Rooms around the country.

Author and Motivational Speaker

Carson has also written several books, including the popular autobiography Gifted Hands (1990). Other titles include-Think Big (1992), The Big Picture (1999), and Take the Risk (2007)-are about his personal philosophies on learning, success, hard work and religious faith. Carson also traveled as a motivational speaker.

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