Commencement 2004

Benjamin Carson, World-Renowned Neurosurgeon, Addresses UMUC Graduates

By Chip Cassano

Benjamin S. Carson

Benjamin S. Carson, director of the division of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine since 1984, gave the keynote address at UMUC’s 2004 commencement ceremony in Maryland. Carson is probably best known for his role in 1987 as the head neurosurgeon on a 70-member medical team that conducted the first successful separation of craniopagus twins—twins joined at the back of the head. Ten years later, he again made headlines when he led a team that separated vertical craniopagus twins—twins joined at the top of the head. He has received more than 24 honorary degrees and dozens of national citations of merit, and has authored three best-selling books and more than 90 neurosurgical publications.

But if graduates were concerned that they were in for a dry, scientific lecture, they needn’t have worried.

Carson stuck to his own remarkable and inspiring story, drawing repeated rounds of laughter and applause as he described himself as a young boy—the troubled child of an uneducated mother—who was raised in dire poverty, saw two cousins killed in street violence, and early on was dubbed “Dummy” by his classmates.

“I was just an awful student,” Carson said. “I didn’t think that I could learn anything so I didn’t pay attention in class, and all of my classmates called me ‘Dummy.’ That was my nickname. . . . Fortunately, I had a mother who felt that you could never give up. She would always say, ‘Benjamin, you are much too smart to be bringing home grades like this.’ But I would bring them home anyway.”

His mother, a deeply religious woman, prayed for wisdom. She hit on the idea of turning off the television set and requiring her children to read two books a week from the public library and submit written book reports.

“Now what kind of wisdom is that?” Carson asked, to more laughter. “As far as we were concerned, it was child abuse. . . . We didn’t know she couldn’t read [the reports]. She would put little checkmarks on them, and underline things. . . . And you know, I began to learn. My entire horizon began to change . . . and I realized that I was so tired of being called ‘Dummy.’ I said to myself, ‘You have your destiny in your own hands. You can make yourself as valuable as you want to, simply by picking up a book and reading it.’”

In the space of 18 months, Carson went from the bottom of the class to the top. He assessed his own abilities—his eye-hand coordination, his ability to think in three dimensions, his carefulness, his fascination with dissecting things—and began to dream of a career as a brain surgeon. He followed those dreams to Yale University and ultimately to the University of Michigan School of Medicine.

Through it all, he has held true to the lessons taught him by his mother—the importance of working hard, pursuing one’s dreams, and having faith in God.

“I believe that God gives everybody special gifts and talents . . . ,” said Carson. “I don’t mean that I couldn’t have been a cardiologist, a lawyer, a university professor, or a businessman. . . . But I probably would not have excelled to the same degree, because I wouldn’t have been taking advantage of my special gifts and talents.

“That’s a very good thing to think about for people who are embarking on new careers, or deciding to change careers. Look at the area in which you’re talented, as opposed to just taking the path of least resistance and going where other people expect you to go, and you’ll end up asking the question, ‘Why are they paying me to do this? It’s something I enjoy, and something that I’m good at.’ Believe me, it makes a difference.”