Dr. Benjamin Carson’s Biography? Have you ever wanted to know the background, success story, net worth and accomplishments of Dr. Benjamin Carson?
If yes, then take a seat, as I take you through this biography. This article explores the memoir of the famous retired Neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Carson.
You’ll get to know his lifestyle, marriage life, net worth, and other critical things about the gifted doctor.
This piece is the first episode of our InspireMe Series, and we’ll be taking a whole lot on Dr. Ben Carson’s story.
Overview
Dr. Benjamin Carson, shortly known as Dr. Ben Carson, is an American politician, author, and retired Neurosurgeon. He’s well known for having led the record-breaking separation of cojoined twins.
Presently, Carson has been working as the 17th Secretary of Housing and Urban development in the United States.
- Full name: Benjamin Solomon Carson
- Age: 69 years(September 18, 1951)
- Height: 6 feet 3 inches
- Weight: 80 kilograms
- Spouse: Candy Rustin
- Children: 3
- Networth: $40 million as of 2020
- Medical field: Pediatric neurosurgery
- School: Yale University, Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, National academy of medicine, and the University of Michigan.
- Political party: Republican
- Current medical service: Retired
Early life of Dr. Benjamin Carson And Net worth
On the 18th of September, 1951, Benjamin Carson was born to Robert Solomon Carson, Jr, and Sonya Carson. The relationship between his parents started unusually as his mother was just 13 years when she married his father, who was 28.
Carson’s father, Robert, was an Army veteran in world war II. He was also a Baptist Minister but later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer.
Ben’s parents came from large families living in rural Georgia. But they later moved to rural Tennessee after their marriage. After Benjamin’s mother had finished his military service, they relocated from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit.
In 1959, Carson’s mother gave birth to his older brother Curtis, which happened while she was 20 years old. In 1950, Carson’s parents relocated to Southwest Detroit after they bought a new 733-square foot detached house in Deacon Street, Boynton neighborhood.
Ben Carson Education – the struggle begins.
Carson began his primary education at Fisher school, one of Detroit Public schools. He started kindergarten at age 5 in 1951. In this Fisher school, the young lad completed his first, second, and first half of third grade, and he was an average student then.
Challenges spur great opportunities for the determined, and that’s the same case with Dr. Benjamin Carson. Trouble began when his parents got divorced in 1959, leaving the eight-year-old boy broken.
The separation between his parents was because Carson’s father had a family before his marriage with Sonya. And he had not divorced his first wife yet.
After this drastic change, Carson and his family moved to stay with his mother’s sister, a Seventh-day Adventist. They remained in a multi-family dwelling in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston.
Life became tough for the single mother, as there are shreds of evidence that she was going through a lot. She attempted suicide, got hospitalized for depression, and started working as a domestic worker for the first time.
During this period, Carson and his brother schooled in a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church. The school wasn’t serious as only two teachers taught eighth-grade students, and students used most of their time in singing and playing games.
Sonya’s major role – Ben Carson Mother
When Carson clocked ten, he relocated with his family back to Southwest Detroit. Here they lived with a multi-family residing in a white neighborhood.
As Carson returned to his former environment, he enrolled back in the Detroit Public schools. However, Carson and his brother couldn’t keep up academically because they had lost almost a year of school attending the Seventh-day Adventist school in Boston.
A good mother always brings out the best in their children, and Sonya Carson is a perfect epitome. When Carson’s mother got to know about him and his brother’s poor academic performance, she immediately took disciplinary actions.
She made them limit their television time to two shows per week and enforced them to read and review two books per week.
This enforcement by Carson’s mother was at first challenging for him because he loved watching television. But with time, this decision paid off big time. He was formerly known as a dummy, but his mates started seeing him differently after answering a question on rocks correctly.
Carson enrolled in the predominantly White Higgins elementary school, where he schooled for his fifth and sixth grades. He also got into the White Junior high school, where he studied for his 7th and first half of eight grade.
When Benjamin Carson was 13, he and his family went back to their house in Deacon Street. There he enrolled in the Black Hunter Junior high school for the other half of eight grade.
Getting into High school
When Ben Carson reached ninth grade, everything seemed to be going better, as his mother’s financial status had improved. His mother even paid cash to purchase a new Chrysler car, and this movement shocked her neighbors.
Carson schooled in the Black Southwestern High school from his ninth to twelfth grade. After which he graduated third best in this class academically.
Summer Jobs – Dr Benjamin Carson Bio
Ben Carson didn’t just focus on books. He tried a couple of things during high school. He played the baritone horn, engaged in Chess club, forensics(public speaking), and in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps(JROTC) of the U.S. army.
Carson later became a cadet colonel in the JROTC – the highest rank achievable in this body.
Asides that, Ben Carson worked in numerous places during summer breaks. The young lad worked as a laboratory assistant in his high school’s laboratories for Biology, chemistry, and Physics. He also served as an assistant in a biology laboratory at the Wayne state university.
Ben Carson Anger Issues
Dr. Benjamin Carson, when he was younger, had issues with controlling his temper. His anger issues became so severe that he would rush at people with bricks, rocks, hammers and baseball bats.
At some point, he attempted to stab a close friend because he had changed the radio station. Fortunately for Ben, the blade didn’t Pierce through his skin but broke at his friend’s belt buckle.
This incident became a point call for the easily angered lad. After that time, he rushed home and started praying to God about his anger. With prayers and application of the book of Proverbs, Benjamin was able to overcome his anger and live a healthy life.
Dr. Benjamin Carson Getting into College
Benjamin continued in his academic excellence. His SAT scores ranked him somewhere along with the few 90th percentiles. According to a Detroit Free Press article, Ben Carson’s score was the highest ever in twenty years of any student in Detroit Public schools.
You can see here that excellence becomes continuous when you’re addicted to becoming better. What are you going to do to ensure you keep on being a success?
Making a Choice; Harvard or Yale?
Many students love their school to be far from their residence, and Dr. Benjamin Carson here is no exception. He wanted to school at a college now from Curtis, his brother, who attended the University of Michigan.
Carson had several options but pinned his choice to either Harvard or Yale. He would have applied for both and wait for acceptance, but he had only $10 to spare on one university. He finally chose to school at Yale University, after he watched a club from Yale beat a club from Harvard in the G.E. college bowl television show.
As expected, Ben Carson got accepted at Yale University and got a full scholarship that supported his tuition. Room and board. Benjamin graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Psychology.
Medical School – tougher challenges ahead
Due to Ben Carson’s brilliance, he was privileged with two unmerited scholarships. He was offered one from the University of Michigan, and another from West point. However, he later chose the University of Michigan, where he completed his medical school education.
You would typically expect this genius who’s been doing well since to have a smooth ride in medical school, right? But that’s not the case with Ben Carson.
Carson’s first year at medical school was academically challenging. He struggled to perform well in his first set of tests. His faculty adviser recommended he drop medical school or enroll in a reduced academic course load with a longer finish time.
Fortunately for Benjamin, after his first year, he began to Brace up academically, but this came with sacrifices. He reduced attending lectures and studied just textbooks and notes from 6 am to 11 pm each day.
Dr. Benjamin Carson read from 6 am to 11 pm. That’s a huge sacrifice. Others might want to chill out and have much fun, but he didn’t. What are you willing to sacrifice to ensure you reach your medical career dreams?
In 1977, Ben Carson became a doctor after graduating from the University of Michigan Medical School. Within a short time, he got elected into the Alpha Omega Honor medic Society.
Residency
Back then, getting placed in competitive fields like neurosurgery will only be a miracle. With God’s grace and Carson’s love for music, he got selected with one other doctor among the 100 doctors applying for that placement.
Carson got accepted into the John Hopkins University School of medicine Neurosurgery program. In this school, Dr. Benjamin Carson served as a surgical intern in his first year and a neurosurgery resident in the remaining five years of his residency program. Afterward, he became a chief resident in 1983.
Working as a Surgeon
Dr. Benjamin Carson spent a year as a senior registrar in the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, after which he returned to Johns Hopkins hospital in 1984. Not too long after his arrival, he got appointed to be the University’s Director of Paediatric Neurosurgery.
Ben Carson attributed his giftedness as a surgeon to his excellent hand-eye coordination and the three-dimensional reasoning he possessed.
As a Surgeon, this genius specialized in spinal cord and brain tumors, congenital and neurological disorders, traumatic brain injuries, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia.
Ben Carson has added value to medicine in different ways. While he was still at Johns Hopkins, he refined hemispherectomy, a surgical procedure of removing one or all hemispheres of the brain to control severe epilepsy.
One of the fantastic acts this brilliant doctor is known for is the separation of conjoined twins in 1987. It happened that Dr. Benjamin Carson led the team of 70 surgeons to separate the twins, Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who got joined at the back of the head.
Asides that, Dr. Ben Carson engaged in four other risky conjoined twins separation. Two sets of twins died, one was in a healthy outcome, and in another, only one survived.
Despite that, the Binder surgery lead by Dr. Ben Carson serves as an icon for similar twin separations. This surgery has also made him a spotlight in the world Press conferences.
The surgery afterward created name recognition for Carson, resulting in a motivational speaking career and great publishing deals.
In March 2013, Dr. Ben Carson made it known to the public his retirement motive. He said he would prefer quitting his medical career when he’s the top of his game. He retired from medical service officially on the 1st of July, 2013.
Success Onwards – Benjamin Carson Bio
You know what they say about success? It’s that maintaining success becomes continuous after you’ve made your first hit. And, Dr. Benjamin Carson’s story is no exception.
The retired Neurosurgeon had written several articles and six best -selling books. His books do get published by the international Christian media and publishing company, Zondervan.
Asides from that, the genius has been involved in numerous paid speeches at conferences. One of Carson’s addresses could amount to as high as $42,000. In all, Carson has made over $4 million, from 141 paid speeches.
Here are places Dr. Benjamin Carson has contributed to and what he did
- 2004-2014: Mannatech Multi-level Marketing Company, providing speeches at company events
- July 2013: Washington Times – Weekly columnist
- October 2013: contributor at Fox News
- 2014: Carson got nominated to be the House Speaker for the Republicans, but he declined.
Presidential Race
Most people think Medics always confine themselves to medicine alone, but that’s not true. Medical practitioners do engage in politics, and when they do, they bring significant change, and thats true for Carson also.
Dr. Benjamin Carson moved to the independent party from being a Republican.
As indicated by his book America the Beautiful(2013), he accepted that it’s a practical assessment for doctors, and different experts who use facts, to get occupied with politics.
Carson decided to go for the president of the United States in 2016. He spent so much time and effort in the campaign that cost $85 million. However, on the 2nd of March 2016, he suspended his campaign and later endorsed Donald Trump as the president.
Currently, Dr. Ben Carson is the United States secretary of Housing and Urban development.
Marriage – Ben Carson wife and family
Dr. Benjamin Carson’s wife is Rustin(Candy Carson). The couple first met at Yale University as students in 1971, and they married after four years. After their marriage, they stayed in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988.
Not too long after Carson’s appointment, he sold his house in West palm beach, Florida, for over $900,000 and bought a new home for $1.2 million at Vienna, Virginia.
Children
The couple got blessed with three children, all Male. Their names are Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr, and Murray. Murray was born while Carson was still in the residency program in Australia. Carson’s wife was pregnant with twins in 1981 but had a miscarriage.
Awards
- 2000 – Award for the Greatest Public Service benefiting the disadvantaged by Jefferson awards
- 2001 – Library of Congress Living legend
- 2004 – Served the President Council on Bioethics
- 2005 – William E Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership
- 2006 – Spingarn medal from the National Association for the Advancement of colored people(NAACP)
- 2008 – Presidential medal of freedom (the Highest U.S. civilian honor)
- – Ford’s theater Lincoln medal by Ford’s theater society
- – Named one of America’s Best Leaders by the U.S. News and World report
- 2010 – appointed into the National academy of sciences institute of medicine and named one of the highest honors in medicine
- 2014 – Ranked Sixth position on a list of the most admired persons by Gallup
- Presently he is an Emeritus fellow in the Yale Corporation.
Ben Carson Books
- A Perfect union
- Gifted hands: The Ben Carson story with Cecil Murphy
- The Big picture
- Think Big: Unleashing your potential for excellence
- Take the risk: Learn to identify, choose and live with acceptable risk
- America the Beautiful – Rediscovering what made this Nation great
- One vote: make your voice heard
- One Nation
Ben Carson Movie
An Inspiring movie, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson story, was produced based on Carson’s autobiography.
The movie is a biographical television drama 2009. It was directed by Thomas Carter, scripted by John Pielmeier and starred by Cuba Gooding Jr, Aunjanue Ellis, and Kimberly Elise.
Dr. Ben Carson Networth
Dr. Ben Carson’s net worth is $40 million as of 2020. The genius has amassed such wealth from his medical profession, books, public speaking, and political career.
Most of his net worth is from book royalties. He’s made over $10 million from his books, which is not surprising since he has six best-selling books.
Things you don’t know about Dr. Benjamin Carson.
- Carson was diagnose with prostate cancer in 2002. Hopefully, he became fine after a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins hospital
- Dr. Ben Carson is a vegetarian. His primary purpose was for health concerns. He attributed more reasons to his wife, who is also a vegetarian and does most of the cooking.
- Carson and his family are seventh-day Adventists. He made prayers to God before every surgery. Also, he doesn’t believe in hell as others do.
- Amidst the 2016 presidential campaign, Ben Carson took Donald Trump on tour to his childhood home in Detroit. They both talked about measures to improve such cities.
- He received the Presidential medal of freedom- the highest award ever given to a civilian in 2008.
- He’s a co-founder of a company, the Benevolent endowment Network(BEN), which pays for medical expenses of pediatric neurosurgery patients in need.
- Ben Carson loves music. He usually listens to music while operating in the surgery room.
- He has written six books, which are individually bestsellers, including his autobiography, Gifted hands.
- Ben Carson has no experience in his political position currently, but he’s doing well.
Lessons from Dr. Ben Carson’s Story and Net worth
💡You can Improve at Anything you want
Benjamin Carson wasn’t born with vast knowledge and medical expertise. Instead, he sought for it through the correct process.
Here is a young chap who was once the dullest in his class, now one of the best neurosurgeons on this planet. Who would have once thought it possible?
His story is an inspiring one from which you should learn that you can become amazingly great at anything you wish to do in life. Just anything!
But that’s not going to come through wishes. You’ve got to go through the process. And it all starts from removing distractions, being committed, continually working, and having a positive mindset.
💡Massive Actions Towards Your Project will bring Great Improvements
Benjamin Carson read for super long hours while in medical school. He knew how delicate the stage was, and instead of feeling down, he tackled his duties with the ferociousness of a champion!
About that goal that you want to achieve, are you tackling it with massive actions? Do you commit regularly to make it a success?
If not, then you’ve got to embrace this act of massive actions. You shouldn’t work with others targets but instead put in much more to make your dreams a reality.
Wrapping up on Dr Benjamin Carson Bio and Net worth
Dr. Ben Carson had a similar goal with you, becoming a medical practitioner. But with hard work, focus, and determination, the genius was able to transform himself from local limitations to an outstandingly success model.
I leave you with one of Ben Carson’s quotes,
“Through hard work, perseverance, and Faith in God, you can live your dreams.”
ben carson
Whatever dreams you’re chasing, whether it is to be a significant contributor to medicine, follow the right principles, work hard, and you’ll succeed.
It’s Your Turn on Dr Benjamin Carson Bio
What have you got to say in Dr. Ben Carson’s biography? Do you have any comments, addition, or opinions? Kindly let us know how you feel Through the comment box.
Also, do share this fantastic piece with your family, friends, and loved ones.
Also Read Other Episodes on our InspireMe Series
