Candy Carson

Lacena "Candy" Carson (née Rustin) is an American author and businesswoman. Known for her marriage to Ben Carson, she co-founded and promotes the Carson Scholars Fund and co-authored four books alongside her husband. During her husband's campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States, Candy Carson was active on the campaign trail doing TV appearances and solo live campaign appearances.

Carson earned a Master of Business Administration at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Candy is a former concert violinist, and she performed the National Anthem during her husband’s campaign kick-off. She conducted the University of Maryland Medical Center Chamber Players.

Carson worked in real estate, trust administration and insurance in the Baltimore area.

Carson has been interviewed or profiled many times in the media including by Greta Van SusterenLatin Post, The View, Breitbart, The Hill, Bustle, National Review, The Daily Mail, Fox News (as an author) and CNN.

In 1994, Ben and Candy Carson started the Carson Scholars Fund, which gave scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities". They founded it after reading that U.S. students ranked second to last in terms of math and science testing among 22 countries. They also noticed that schools awarded athletes with trophies whereas honor students received only "a pin or certificate." Candy runs the Fund.

Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund get a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.

Though both the Carsons are from Detroit, they did not meet there. Rather, they met in 1971 as students at Yale and got to know each other while recruiting for the school and traveling to and from Detroit together. They married in 1975, and have three sons (Murray, Benjamin Jr., and Rhoeyce) and several grandchildren. They lived in West Friendship, Maryland, until 2013 but have since moved to Florida. They are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She has been a vegetarian since before she met her husband over 45 years ago.

Candy Carson was portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis in the TNT made-for-TV movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (first airdate February 7, 2009), starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. Candy Carson starred as herself along with her husband Ben Carson and her mother-in-law Sonya Carson in the 1991 biographical documentary Gifted Hands on her husband's life.

Candy Carson has co-authored four books with her husband, including One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future, which made The New York Times Best Seller list, including five weeks at #1. Her memoir was released at the beginning of 2016.

• America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. Thomas Nelson. 2013. ISBN 0310330912.  (with Ben Carson)
• One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future. Sentinel. 2014. ISBN 1595231129.  (with Ben Carson)
• One Vote: Make Your Voice Heard. Tyndale House. 2014. ISBN 149640632X.  (with Ben Carson)
• A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties. 2015. ISBN 978-0698195004.  (with Ben Carson)
• A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson. January 5, 2016. 

• Carson, Candy & Carson, Ben. A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties. Retrieved October 28, 2015. 
• Carson, Candy (January 5, 2016). A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson. ISBN 9781595231246. Retrieved October 28, 2015.