Carson will deliver a keynote presentation based on his book titled "America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made this Nation Great" to a sold-out crowd.

To accommodate the continued demand of individuals wanting to hear Carson's address, additional seating has been arranged via high definition live broadcast in Jennett Hall. Tickets are available at $10 for general admission and $5 for students and may be purchased online at www.valdostastate.org/BenCarson.

Hosted by VSU's Langdale College of Business Administration (LCOBA) and Beta Gamma Sigma international honor society, proceeds from the event will provide funds for the Valdosta Early College Academy (VECA). It is sponsored by Farmers and Merchants Bank, 100 Black Men of Valdosta, Southeastern Federal Credit Union, and South GeorgiaMedical Center.

"The sponsor dinner and keynote address were quickly sold out," said Dr. Wayne Plumly, dean of the LCOBA. "We are very pleased to be able to offer live high definition streaming in Jennett Hall of Dr. Carson's keynote address. The reduced price for the streaming will allow many more students and community members to attend. We are expecting more than 1,300 people to participate in this event. The response to Dr. Carson's visit has been unexpected and overwhelming."

For years Carson has told the story of how he was raised by a single mother and overcame the struggles of a troubled youth living in Detroit. He began to excel academically and graduated from Yale University with a degree in pre-med and psychology.  He later earned an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School.

Carson became the first physician to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head. He has served as director of pediatric neurosurgery for 39 years at Johns Hopkins Children Center.

His inspiring life story and successful achievements are portrayed in his memoir, Gift Hands: The Ben Carson Story, which was later made into an award-winning movie with the same title starring Cuba Gooding Jr.

Carson holds more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and has received hundreds of awards and citations. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Science, the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and many other prestigious organizations. He sits on the board of directors for several organizations, including the Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation and the Academy of Achievement, and is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation. In 2004, he was appointed to the President's Council on Bioethics by then President George W. Bush.

Carson is the president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. He is the author of Gifted Hands; THINK BIG; The Big Picture; Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose and Live with Acceptable Risk; and America The Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. His next book, One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future, is scheduled for release May 2014.

In 2001, Carson was named as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists by CNN and TIME magazine. The same year, he was selected as one of the Library of Congress “Living Legends” during its 200th anniversary.