Ben Carson

Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., born on September 18, 1951, is a distinguished American retired neurosurgeon, academic, author, and government official. He served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. Renowned as a pioneer in neurosurgery, Carson gained national prominence after delivering a notable speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, which was perceived as a critique of President Barack Obama's policies.

In 1984, at the age of thirty-three, Carson became the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States, taking on the role at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Children's Center. His groundbreaking work includes leading the first-known separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head in 1987, performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus, and developing innovative techniques for treating brain-stem tumors. Carson has authored over one hundred neurosurgical publications and retired from medicine in 2013, at which point he was a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Carson's political aspirations took shape when he announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in May 2015. Despite a strong start in early polls, he faced challenges in the primaries and ultimately withdrew after Super Tuesday, later endorsing Donald Trump. His nomination as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was confirmed by the Senate on March 2, 2017.

Throughout his career, Carson has received numerous accolades for his contributions to medicine, including more than seventy honorary doctorate degrees and various national merit citations. In 2001, he was recognized by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's twenty foremost physicians and scientists, and he was honored by the Library of Congress as one of eighty-nine 'Living Legends' during its bicentennial. His achievements were further acknowledged in 2008 when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.