Ben Carson Biography

Fast Facts

• Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal by President George W․ Bush in 2008
• Founded the Carson Scholars Fund with his wife in 1994 to provide scholarships and promote reading in grade school
• Was only 33 years old when he became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and became famous for his separation of conjoined twins
• Graduated from Yale University with a degree in psychology in 1973 and earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1977
• Became a chief resident in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1982 and spent a year at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Australia
• Quote: "I came to realize that if people could make me angry they could control me․ Why should I give someone else such power over my life?"
• Best known as a pediatric neurosurgeon who was a 2016 Presidential candidate
• Has written several books, including "Think Big," "The Big Picture" and "Gifted Hands," the latter of which was his 1990 autobiography