Dr. Benjamin Carson

The doctor is in.

Benjamin S. Carson Sr., M.D., overcame a childhood of dire poverty to become director of pediatric neurosurgery and professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. In 1987, he and his team became the first physicians in history to separate conjoined twins successfully.

In 2001, Carson was named one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists by CNN and Time magazine. In June 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ben and his wife, Candy, are founders of the Carson Scholars Fund, which rewards students with college scholarships and aspires to name a Carson Scholar in every school in the U.S.