Ben Carson, Sr., M.D., dreamed of becoming a physician while growing up in poverty. His mother, with only a third-grade education, challenged him to succeed. Today Carson is a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins and has directed pediatric neurosurgery there for nearly 25 years. Carson holds more than 50 honorary doctorate degrees and sits on the boards of numerous organizations like Kellogg and Costco. In 2001, Carson was named by CNN and TIME Magazine as one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists. He was appointed to the President’s Council on Bioethics and recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.