Our Ben Carson Biography tells you Facts about his Childhood Story, Early Life, Family, Parents, Wife, Children, Net Worth, Lifestyle, and Personal Life.
In the nutshell, we give you the history of the American politician, author, and retired neurosurgeon. It begins from his early days to when he became famous.
Yes, you and I know he is famous for being the first Neurosurgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins who were attached at the back of the head.
However, only a few know Ben Carson’s Life Story. We have it, all set for you. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Ben Carson Childhood Story:
With full names as Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. He was born on the 18th of September 1951 to his father, Robert Solomon Carson, and mother, Sonya Carson (nee Copeland) in the populous city of Detroit in Michigan, US.
Carson’s mother was Thirteen (13) and his father was twenty-eight (28) when they got married.
At the age of eight (8), Ben’s parents had divorced and so he had to live with his mother and brother, spending a brief period in Boston, Massachusetts, US; where his maternal family resides, and then back to Detroit.
Growing-up years:
As a child, Ben was raised in an impoverished, single-parent household in the inner streets of Detroit with his elder brother.
He was never a good student and was lagging behind his classmates in School. He was often laughed at by his classmates and so he saw himself as the Dumbest kid in the world.
Nevertheless, his Mum refused to see him as Dumb. She took action to ensure that Ben and his elder brother watched less TV; Two (2) programs a week. Also reading two books each week from the Detroit Public Library.
And within a matter of a year and a half, Ben Carson went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. Friends and classmates interviewed by CNN, however, recalled Carson as quiet, bookish, and nerdy.
Dr Ben Carson Family Background:
As a result of his parent’s divorce, the family struggled as Sonya, Ben’s mum had to do two (2) to three (3) jobs at a time to make ends meet. She didn’t want to live on welfare as Ben’s Dad never looked back on them.
Ben Carson Family Origin:
Being black already makes Ben Carson an African American. His family roots are traced to East Africa with ancestry connections to the semi-nomadic pastoralist community from the Kenya-Tanzania region, from the Turkana tribe.
Ben shares the same Kenyan roots as the former US president, Barack Obama.
Ben Carson Educational Background:
Carson’s Detroit Public School education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School till the first half of third grade, throughout which he was an average student.
After his parents had divorced, he went to a small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston for less than a year and returned to Detroit Public Schools.
Most of the classroom period at Southwestern High School in inner-city Detroit was spent with disciplinary problems, so nobody was learning anything. Nevertheless, he got a lot of extra tutoring afterward.
Later on, he enrolled and then graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale University where he was offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room, and board.
Determined to become a Physician, he went to the University of Michigan Medical School. That was where he realized his interest in neurosurgery and decided to make it his specialty.
He graduated with an M.D. and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Ben Carson Biography – Career Build-up:
At the age of (8), Carson had dreamed of becoming a missionary doctor. However, five (5) years later, he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television.
His brother taking note, bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
Ben Carson Biography – Road to Fame:
Following his graduation from medical school, Ben became a resident Neurosurgeon at the famous John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1997. His unique eye-hand coordination proved him to be a good surgeon.
Later on, an Australian hospital in Perth; Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital being short of Neurosurgeons sought Ben’s expertise to which he obliged.
In Australia, he gained several years’ worth of experience in a short time. Returning back a year later, to Johns Hopkins Hospital, he was made Co-director of the John Hopkins Craniofacial Center.
Ben Carson’s Biography – Success Story:
History was created in 1987 when he led a team of seventy (70) Doctors in an intense surgery to separate two (2) 7-month craniopagus twins. The surgery lasted twenty-two (22) hours and was a huge success.
His fame began to spread, after which he received many invitations from different countries. South Africa in 1994, Zambia in 1997, Iran in 2003, and many more.
It is worthy to note that prior to Ben’s first Successful separation of the Conjoined Twins with both Children alive, no doctor had ever achieved that success. It was the first of its kind in the world; as either one (1) or both of the children would have to lose their lives.
Ben Carson’s Bio – Political Career:
Retiring from Johns Hopkins Hospital, as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Professor and Co-director of the Craniofacial Centre in 2013.
Ben began to display his political views publicly and would later announce his candidacy as President in his hometown of Detroit.
He is known as an outspoken conservative Republican. In 2012, he published America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great.
He rose to conservative prominence after his 2013 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast where he criticized President Obama’s health care policies (taxation and healthcare) while the president sat only feet away.
He is currently the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development as nominated and confirmed by The Trump administration in 2017.
Ben Carson Spouse:
Yale’s gravity and intense scholarship could not deter the talented Neurosurgeon from finding love.
Even while at Yale University, Ben would meet Lacena ‘Candy’ Rustin in 1971. The duo fell in love with each other as a student and later got married in 1975.
Candy is an American author and businesswoman. She is also a classically-trained musician and was the first violinist in the Nedlands Symphony.
Her marriage to Ben Carson is garnished with three (3) sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren.
Ben Carson Family Life:
Less is often spoken of concerning Ben Carson’s Dad regarding his Biography. His father had to leave Ben Carson’s Mother for his first Marriage.
Though Ben did not come from a conventional family with a father, mother, and Children. He enjoyed and endured the guidance, discipline, and upbringing that his mum offered to him and his Elder Brother at a great cost.
About Ben Carson’s Father:
Robert Solomon Carson, Jr. was born in 1914 a World War II U.S. Army veteran, Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but later a Cadillac automobile plant labourer.
He came from a large family in rural Georgia, and once lived in rural Tennessee when he met Ben’s mum and they got married.
The Baptist minister died in 1992 in Detroit at age 77 of Parkinson’s disease.
Ben Carson’s Mother:
Sonya Robinson Carson is the mother of Ben Carson. She is a single mother with little formal education. Sonya Carson was born on 24th December 1928 and grew up in rural Tennessee in a large family.
She fought depression while working long hours at various jobs simultaneously as a domestic worker.
She is the molding influence on Ben Carson’s life. Sonya taught her sons that it was in their power to change their situation in life, both academically and financially.
“Her life maxim was, ‘Learn to do your best, and God will do the rest.’” says, Ben Carson. Sonya had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2011 and passed on, on the 6th of November 2017.
About Ben Carson’s Children:
Ben Carson had three sons with Sonya namely; Rhoeyce, Ben, Jr., and Murray. All three of Carson’s sons have been relatively quiet with regard to the fame of their father.
Rhoeyce Carson:
He is a graduate of the University of Delaware, and Stevenson University respectively. He appears to have a strong background in financial accounting and auditing and is a recognized CPA (Certified Public Accountant CPA).
About Benjamin Carson Jr.:
About Murray Carson:
Murray Carson has a Master’s of Science in Applied Information Technology from Towson University and earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Yale in Mechanical Engineering.
He certainly appears to be the most adventurous of the three, creative writing and public speaking are among his top skills. He is married to Lerone Allen.
Murray likes martial arts, ping pong, but most of all, spending time playing video games and his wife.
Ben Carson’s Siblings:
Ben Carson had just a sibling, a brother named Curtis. He’s a couple of years older than Ben, born in December 1949.
Curtis had to go through the same experience that Ben Carson went through. He is extremely academically inclined. Curtis Carson is an aeronautical engineer.
Curtis is married and about seventy-one (71) years of age. He lives in Peachtree, Georgia.
About Ben Carson’s Relatives:
Although we know Ben’s mum to have many siblings, not much is known about them except her elder sister Jean Avery; Ben’s aunt.
His other uncles were, Eddie and John. Fairell Tubbs and Cerise Rustin Tounsel are his stepsister and sister in law respectively.
it is also almost certain that he has cousins and probably nephew(s) and niece(s), but much is not known concerning them too.
Ben Carson Books
The most popular of Ben’s Books remains his autobiography in 1990 “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, “ which inspired a film of the same name starring Cuba Gooding Jr.
Other titles include—Think Big (1992), The Big Picture (1999), and Take the Risk (2007).
The books are about his personal philosophies on learning, success, hard work, and religious faith. He is a recipient of the Library of Congress’ “Living Legend” award.
Ben Carson Religion:
In union with Ben’s wife, They are both members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Ben Carson has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher.
Despite that Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church workers to remain politically neutral.
Ben Carson Philanthropy (Carson Scholars Fund):
Inspired by Sonya’s life and the principle she taught, Ben and his wife Candy created The Carson Scholars Fund to support two main initiatives — The Carson Scholars Program and The Ben Carson Reading Project.
The first awards scholarships to students who have exhibited high levels of academic prowess and community service.
And the second provides funding to schools to enhance and maintain Ben Carson Reading Rooms.
Dr. Ben Carson’s Parents had him on September 18th, which makes him a Virgo. Here are some other celebrities (whom we’ve written their Bio) who share the same zodiac sign as him:
Beyoncé (born September 4, 1981), Michael Jackson (born August 29, 1958), Keanu Reeves (born September 2, 1964), etc.
Ben Carson’s Personal Life:
In alignment with the practice of many Adventists, Ben is a Lacto-Ovo vegetarian (he eats dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry).
His reason for becoming vegetarian aside from the environmental benefits was its health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease.
His hobby remains reading and also listening to Baroque and classical music. Carson loves to listen to classical music while operating, he says it keeps him calm.
Ben Carson Lifestyle:
While Ben likely built up most assets from his medical career, he has created a lucrative second career as a writer and public speaker.
Carson also continues to earn thousands of dollars in royalties every year from books, including his memoir Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.
The retired neurosurgeon and Donald Trump’s housing secretary nominee is worth an estimated $26 million, according to Forbes.
He has an annual salary of $213,600 as of 2019. He earned more than $4 million from 141 paid speeches delivered from January 2014 to May 2015, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ben and Candy Carson own a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland. In 2013, Carson, his wife, and his mother moved to West Palm Beach in Florida.
Ben Carson Facts:
This section of our Bio tells you more information about the award-winning Doctor. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Record Number of Surgeries:
Before retirement, Carson was reported to have performed over 300 surgeries a year, almost three times the average of any neurosurgeon. He also prays before every surgery he performs.
The Movie Star:
Carson played himself in the 2003 movie “Stuck on You,” a comedy about conjoined twins starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear.
The Quest for Forgiveness:
Carson apologized after saying that homosexuality is a choice because men often go to prison straight and come out gay.
Anger Issues:
Carson had a raging temper that translated into violent behavior as a child. He once tried to hit his mother with a hammer because she disagreed with his choice of clothes.
In another incident, he nearly stabbed a friend after arguing over a choice of radio stations.
Terrified by his own actions, Ben started praying, asking God to help him find a way to deal with his temper, finding salvation in the Book of Proverbs.
Carson began to realize that much of his anger stemmed from constantly putting himself in the center of events happening around him.
Ben Carson's Bio Data
| Biography Inquiries | Wiki Answers |
|---|---|
| Full Name: | Benjamin Solomon Carson |
| Nickname: | Ben Carson |
| Date of Birth: | 18th of September 1951 |
| Place of Birth: | Detroit, Michigan, US |
| Father: | Robert Carson |
| Mother: | Sonya Carson (nee Copeland) |
| Marriage: | Lacena "Candy" (nee Rustin) Carson (1975 - present) |
| Brother: | Curtis Carson |
| Children: | Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr. and Murray. |
| Relatives: | Jean Avery (Aunt), Fairell Tubbs (Stepsister), Cerise Rustin Tounsel (Sister in-law), Eddie and John Copeland (Uncles). |
| Education: | Yale University (B.A. Psychology) and University of Michigan School of Medicine. |
| Profession: | American Politician, public Servant, Author, and Retired Neurosurgeon. |
| Religion: | Seventh Day Adventist |
| Salary: | $213,600 per annum (2019) |
| Net Worth: | $26 M (Forbes) |
| Height: | 6 ft / 1.83m |
| Hobbies: | Reading and listening to Baroque - era Composers (Vivaldi, Bach and Corelli). |
Conclusion:
We anticipate that reading Ben Carson’s childhood story of overcoming poverty and being a failure at school to become a world-renowned neurosurgeon has been fascinating and inspiring.
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Cole Daxton
Cole Daxton is a talented Childhood Biography Storyteller with a passion for uncovering the untold stories of some of the world's biggest celebrities. With a keen eye for detail, Cole Daxton has spent years delving into the Early Years and Success Stories of some of the most famous people in the world.
