ALF Showcase
Our People
Benjamin Carson – African American pediatric surgeon Benjamin Carson is an exceptional example of a disadvantaged young American who rose to the pinnacle of success as a pediatric neurosurgeon. One of his maxims is to "Learn for the sake of knowledge and understanding, rather for the sake of impressing people or taking a test."
Benjamin was born in Detroit Michigan, to a teenage mother of 13 who already had another son, and who became divorced when Ben was only 8 years old. By fifth grade Ben was at the bottom of his class, was referred to as "dummy" by classmates, and had developed a violent and uncontrollable temper.
Ben’s mother, who had only gone to school through the third grade, decided to turn her sons’ lives around. She limited the boys’ TV watching, insisted that they finish their homework every day, and made them read and write reports on two books every week. Within the year, Ben’s hunger for reading and knowledge moved him to the top of his class; and eventually he graduated with honors from his high school.
Benjamin attended Yale where he earned a degree in Psychology, and then continued on to the Medical School of the University of Michigan where his interest shifted to neurosurgery. After medical school, he became a neurosurgery resident at the world famous Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. At age 32, he became the hospital’s Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Here he made medical history with an operation to separate Siamese twins, and made other surgical innovations in intra-uterine procedures and conducting hemispherectomies.
Dr. Benjamin Carson is in constant demand as a speaker, has written two books (Gifted Hands, Think Big), and in 2008 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest honor.