“If we can take young people who excel at the highest levels, put them on the same kind of pedestal as the all-state basketball player and the all-state football player, and begin to get the same kind of recognition, it will have a profound effect, and we are finding that it does.”

American neurosurgeon, academic, author, and government official

Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. is an American neurosurgeon, academic, author, and government official. He has served as the National Nutrition Advisor at the Department of Agriculture since 2025, and earlier served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He is also known for a career in medicine and for work beyond it, including writing and public service. He is a member of the Republican Party.