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Ben Carson Facts & Worksheets

From 2017 until 2021, Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., a retired neurosurgeon and politician from the United States, held the position of 17th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

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From 2017 until 2021, Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., a retired neurosurgeon and politician from the United States, held the position of 17th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He ran for president of the United States in the 2016 Republican primary. He was a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.

See the fact file below for more information on Ben Carson, or you can download our 23-page Ben Carson worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

PERSONAL DETAILS

  • Born: Benjamin Solomon Carson
  • Birthday: September 18, 1951
  • Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
  • Spouse: Candy Carson
  • Children: 3 (Benjamin Jr., Rhoeyce, and Murray)
  • Place of Residence: Vienna, Virginia, US
  • Education: 
    • Yale University, B.A., 1973
    • University of Michigan, M.D., 1977

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

  • Carson attended the Fisher School for kindergarten, first, second, and the first half of third grade during his time in the Detroit Public Schools, where he was an average student. At the age of eight, when his parents divorced, he relocated to Boston for two years with his mother
    and brother.
  • He relocated with his mother and sibling back to southwest Detroit in 1961 when he was ten years old.
  • Having, in the words of Carson, “essentially lost a year of school” by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, Carson and his brother’s scholastic performance when they returned to Detroit public schools initially trailed well behind their new peers.
  • When their mother curtailed their television viewing and made them read and write book reports on two library books each week, they both became better.
  • Carson envisioned himself as a missionary doctor when he was eight. Still, five years later, he began to yearn for the lavish lifestyles of psychiatrists depicted on television. For his 13th birthday, his brother gave him a subscription to Psychology Today.
  • He participated in the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program in high school, where he attained the program’s highest rank—cadet colonel—and played the fc in the band, as well as forensics (public speaking) and chess club.
  • He had a terrible temper when he was younger. Carson claimed he started reading the Book of Proverbs and applied the verses on wrath after one particular occurrence.

COLLEGE EDUCATION AND MEDICAL SCHOOL

  • Carson was granted admission to Yale and given a full scholarship that included room and board. Carson earned a B.A. in psychology from Yale in 1973, “with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class.” 
  • Carson had a number of jobs in the summers after graduating from high school up to his second year of medical school, including payroll clerk, supervisor of a six-person team, mailroom clerk, crane operator, and eventually radiology technician taking X-rays.
  • When Carson enrolled at the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, he performed so poorly on his initial set of comprehensive tests that his faculty adviser advised him to either drop out of medical school or take a lighter load and finish the program more slowly. 
  • In his second year of medical school, Carson excelled academically by sparingly attending lectures and instead spent from six in the morning until eleven in the evening studying textbooks and lecture notes. 
  • In 1977, Carson received his MD from the University of Michigan Medical School and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
  • Carson was then admitted into the neurosurgery program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he spent one year as a surgical intern and five years as a resident before finishing the last year as head resident in 1983. 
  • He then worked at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, for one year (1983–1984) as a senior resident in neurosurgery.

MEDICAL CAREER

  • In 1984, Carson returned to Johns Hopkins and was made the department’s director of pediatric neurosurgery. He was an expert in surgical procedures for traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital conditions, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia.
  • Carson played a role in the resuscitation of the hemispherectomy while he was a student at Johns Hopkins. This radical surgical treatment involves removing all or a portion of one hemisphere of the brain to control severe pediatric epilepsy. In the 1980s, with John M. Freeman’s encouragement, he improved the method and put it to use numerous times.
  • Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been linked at the back of the head (craniopagus twins), were split during surgery in 1987 by lead neurosurgeon Dr. Carson, who led a team of 70 medical professionals.
  • The surgical team at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center practiced the procedure on two dolls that were Velcroed together for weeks before actually performing it. 
  • The Binder operation provided a model for comparable twin separations, which were improved over time. The 1997 procedure on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda had a normal neurological outcome.
  • As a surgeon, Carson said he would “much rather quit when I’m at the top of my game” in March 2013 when he made the announcement. On July 1, 2013, he officially announced
    his retirement.

2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

  • On May 4, 2015, he announced his decision to seek the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Detroit. The choir sang “Lose Yourself” before the announcement, and Carson was there in the crowd. Following the song, Carson entered the stage and declared his candidacy while giving a statement about his journey from poverty to affluence.
  • The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), a Super PAC that supported Carson, declared in October 2015 that it had received contributions from more than 200 small businesses across the nation in a single week, most frequently in $100 increments.
  • The campaign generated a lot of interest in Carson’s past. As “a key part of his presidential campaign,” CBS News called Ben Carson’s story of “beating impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to become an internationally renowned pediatric neurosurgeon.”
  • Carson declared on March 2 that he did “not see a political path forward” and will not be attending the upcoming Republican debate in Detroit following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries.
  • A week after he abandoned his presidential campaign, on March 11, 2016, Carson endorsed Trump, referring to him as a member of “the voice of the people to be heard.”

Ben Carson Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Ben Carson across 23 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Ben Carson. From 2017 until 2021, Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., a retired neurosurgeon and politician from the United States, held the position of 17th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Ben Carson Facts
  2. Meet Ben
  3. Ask Ben
  4. Becoming Ben
  5. I See Myself As …
  6. Gifted Hands
  7. According to Ben
  8. Conjoined Twins
  9. Presidential Medal of Freedom
  10. Just Like Ben
  11. Dear Mom …

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Ben Carson?

Ben Carson is an American retired neurosurgeon, author, and former politician. He gained widespread recognition for his groundbreaking work in pediatric neurosurgery and became the first surgeon to successfully separate twins conjoined at the head. He later transitioned into politics and served as the 17th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2017 to 2021.

What were Ben Carson’s accomplishments as a neurosurgeon?

Ben Carson’s accomplishments as a neurosurgeon were remarkable. He was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and performed several pioneering surgeries, including the successful separation of conjoined twins. He was also the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his contributions to medicine and healthcare.

How did Ben Carson become involved in politics?

After retiring from his medical career, Ben Carson became more involved in politics and public service. He gained prominence as a conservative speaker and author, advocating for limited government, personal responsibility, and educational reforms. His speeches at various events caught the attention of the Republican Party, leading to his entry into politics.

What position did Ben Carson hold in the U.S. government?

In March 2017, Ben Carson was sworn in as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the administration of President Donald Trump. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing federal housing programs and initiatives aimed at promoting affordable housing and community development.

What were some controversies surrounding Ben Carson during his political career?

During his tenure as HUD Secretary, Ben Carson faced criticism and controversies related to his handling of departmental matters, including proposed budget cuts, potential conflicts of interest, and his comments on various issues. Additionally, his lack of experience in housing policy was a subject of debate among his critics.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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