America the Beautiful

Dr. Benjamin S. Carson has served as the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, a candidate for President of the United States, and the seventeenth Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He currently serves as the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute. He is also the author of six bestselling books: Gifted Hands, Think Big, The Big Picture, One Nation, A More Perfect Union, and Created Equal, the last four of which he coauthored with his wife, Candy. They are the parents of three grown sons and grandparents to eight grandchildren. They live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Candy Carson is the co-founder (with her husband Ben) of the Carson Scholars Fund, a charity that recognizes and rewards high academic achievement and demonstrated humanitarian qualities. This organization was created in response to the US crisis in education. With the over 4300 scholars in 42 states, peers of the scholarship winners are now striving for higher academic results as well. Candy also serves on the board of the Shriver Concert Series of Johns Hopkins University. She has worked in editing, trust administration, insurance, and real estate, having earned her Masters in Business from Johns Hopkins. While her 3 sons were in their early teen years, she along with them formed the Carson 4, a string quartet which has performed at churches, and community and charitable events, nationally and internationally. In her spare time, Candy still enjoys reading books and reading music on violin and piano. She writes for THINK BIG, the newsletter for the Carson Scholars Fund, and conducts the University of Maryland Medical Center Chamber Players.