Benjamin Carson, author and director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, will discuss “America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great” at a Brigham Young University forum assembly Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 11:05 a.m. in the Marriott Center.
The address will not be broadcast or rebroadcast, nor will it be screened at any other venue on campus.
His lecture is part of BYU’s observance of Black History Month. A question-and-answer session will follow his address at noon.
Carson had a childhood dream of becoming a physician. Growing up in a single-parent home and being challenged by poverty, poor grades, a temper and low self-esteem appeared to preclude the realization of that dream, until his mother, with only a third-grade education, challenged her sons to strive for excellence.
Young Ben persevered and today is a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he has directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for over a quarter of a century.
Some career highlights include the first and only successful separation of craniopagus (Siamese) twins joined at the back of the head in 1987, the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa and the first successful placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin.
Carson holds more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and has received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.
