The University of Mobile has landed a nationally known figure for its next major fundraising event, announcing that retired neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr. will deliver the keynote address at the school’s annual Leadership Banquet.
Carson, 63, is an emeritus professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He retired in 2013 after directing pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for 39 years, a career that made him one of the best-known surgeons in the country before he transitioned into work as a popular motivational speaker.
His profile had grown well beyond medicine by the time of the announcement. Carson had recently stepped away from a year as a paid contributor at a national news network and had signaled in the preceding months that he intended to seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. His public honors included an appointment by President George W. Bush to the President’s Council on Bioethics in 2004 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2008.
The Leadership Banquet is one of the University of Mobile’s signature events, raising money to support the UMobile Fund. Over the years, the banquet has drawn a striking roster of high-profile speakers, including former President George W. Bush, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, retired Col. Oliver North, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Georgia Gov. and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, best-selling author Andy Andrews, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
The gala was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on April 30 at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in downtown Mobile. Organizers said individual tickets were priced at $150, while table sponsorships started at $1,000.
Those interested in attending or sponsoring the event were directed to the University of Mobile’s banquet webpage or to the school’s Development Office. For a small private university, securing a speaker with Carson’s national visibility underscored the reach the annual event had built, and offered supporters in the Mobile area another chance to hear from a prominent national voice without leaving the Gulf Coast.