Brad Carson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brad Carson
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| 21st President of the University of Tulsa | |
| Assumed office July 1, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Gerard Clancy |
| Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness | |
| In office April 2, 2015 – April 8, 2016 |
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| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Jessica Wright |
| Succeeded by | Peter Levine (acting) |
| United States Under Secretary of the Army | |
| In office March 28, 2014 – June 30, 2015 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Joseph W. Westphal |
| Succeeded by | Ryan D. McCarthy |
| General Counsel of the Army | |
| In office 2012–2014 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Steven J. Morello |
| Succeeded by | Alissa Starzak |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 2nd district |
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| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Coburn |
| Succeeded by | Dan Boren |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Bradley Rogers Carson
March 11, 1967 Winslow, Arizona, U.S. |
| Nationality | American Cherokee Nation |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Julie Carson |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Baylor University (BA) Trinity College, Oxford (MA) University of Oklahoma (JD) |
Bradley Rogers Carson (born March 11, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician. He is currently the 21st President of the University of Tulsa.
Carson was a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005. He is the only person to have voted on the authorization of the Iraq War in Congress and then fought in it. He served in the U.S. Army in 2008–2009 and earned a Bronze Star.
He has held important roles in the government. From 2015 to 2016, Carson was the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this role, he made big changes. These included allowing women to serve in all combat jobs. He also allowed transgender service members to serve openly. He worked to improve how the military recruits and keeps its members.
Carson also served as Under Secretary of the Army from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he was the General Counsel of the Army from 2012 to 2014. From 2017 to 2021, he taught public policy at the University of Virginia. In 2021, he became the president of the University of Tulsa. In 2024, Carson started a new group called Americans for Responsible Innovation. This group focuses on rules for artificial intelligence.
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Brad Carson's Early Life and School
Brad Carson was born in Winslow, Arizona. His father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Because of his father's job, Carson's family moved many times. He grew up in different Native American communities. These included reservations in Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas. He also lived on the Eastern Band Cherokee Reserve in North Carolina.
As a teenager, Carson moved back to Oklahoma. His family has roots in the Cherokee Nation. Carson is an official member of the Cherokee Nation.
He went to Jenks High School. Then he studied at Baylor University. At Baylor, he was chosen for Phi Beta Kappa, a special honor society. He was the first student at Baylor in 55 years to win a Rhodes Scholarship. This scholarship allowed him to study at Trinity College, Oxford in England. There, he earned a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. Later, he attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He graduated at the top of his class in 1994.
Brad Carson's Career Journey
After finishing law school, Carson worked at a law firm in Oklahoma. In 1997, he was chosen as a White House Fellow. This program lets young leaders work in the U.S. government. He worked at The Pentagon as a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
Serving in Congress
In 2000, Brad Carson was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He represented Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District. This area is in the northeastern part of the state. He won the election as a Democrat.
After some changes to the district's boundaries, Carson was reelected in 2002. He won with almost 75 percent of the votes. During his time in Congress, Carson was seen as a moderate Democrat. He was part of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats. He worked on committees dealing with transportation, natural resources, and small businesses. In 2002, Brad Carson was one of the House Democrats who voted to allow the invasion of Iraq.
Running for the Senate
In 2004, Carson decided not to run for the House again. Instead, he ran for an open U.S. Senate seat. This seat was left open by Republican Don Nickles who was retiring. Carson easily won the Democratic primary election. However, after a tough campaign, he lost the main election to Republican Tom Coburn. Coburn had been his predecessor in the House. Even though Carson lost, some experts called his campaign one of the best-run in the nation that year.
After Congress: New Roles
After his term in Congress ended in 2005, Carson did not plan to seek political office right away. In January 2005, he became a visiting teacher at Harvard University. He taught about U.S. politics for one semester.
After Harvard, he returned to his hometown of Claremore, Oklahoma. He became the chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses. This company is owned by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. It is one of the largest businesses in the state. It has thousands of employees and makes hundreds of millions of dollars.
In 2008, Carson left his job at Cherokee Nation Businesses. He went to Iraq as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy. He led teams that investigated bomb sites and smuggling routes. For his work, Carson received the Bronze Star. When he returned, he was elected to the board of Cherokee Nation Businesses.
In 2010, Carson became a professor at the University of Tulsa. He taught business and law. He also became the director of the National Energy Policy Institute. This group focuses on energy policy. Carson has written a lot about the economics of renewable energy. He has also written articles for different magazines and journals.
Working for President Obama
In 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Carson for a new role. He was asked to be the General Counsel of the United States Department of the Army. This means he was the top lawyer for the Army. The U.S. Senate approved his nomination in December 2011.
In 2014, President Obama nominated Carson again. This time, he was asked to be the United States Under Secretary of the Army. This is a very important job. He was sworn in as the 31st Under Secretary of the Army in March 2014. As the Chief Operating Officer of the Army, Carson managed the daily operations of the U.S. Army worldwide. This included overseeing over 490,000 active duty soldiers and many other personnel. He also supervised the Army's budget, which was over $150 billion.
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Carson also served as the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. This was from April 2015 to April 2016. In this role, he led major changes to the military. These changes were called "Force of the Future" reforms. He oversaw the historic decision to open all combat jobs to women. He also helped change the military retirement system. And he set new rules for transgender service members.
Leading the University of Tulsa
Carson became the President of the University of Tulsa in July 2021. He took over after the previous president left. In 2023, the university started a new Honors College. It focuses on literature and philosophy. During Carson's time as president, in 2022, the university had more National Merit Scholars per student than any other university in the country.
In 2023, Carson also helped bring more concerts to Chapman Stadium at the university. The university held its first major concert there since 1990. It featured bands like Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe. He also expanded the university's programs in Tulsa's arts district. The university also took over organizing Tulsa's Mayfest, a big arts festival.
In 2023, the University of Tulsa was recognized as a "free speech" university. It was the first university in Oklahoma to get a "green light" rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. This happened after the Foundation helped Carson update the university's rules on speech and assembly.
Exploring Artificial Intelligence
In late 2023, Carson announced he was a co-founder and President of a new group. It is called Americans for Responsible Innovation. This group focuses on artificial intelligence. It supports creating safe rules for AI. These rules include checking how AI is used and reporting any problems.
Brad Carson's Personal Life
Brad Carson's wife, Julie, has also served in public roles. She was on the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Brad and Julie live in Claremore, Oklahoma. They have one son named Jack.
Carson enjoys challenging physical activities. In 2017, he completed the Marathon des Sables. This is a 250-kilometer ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert. It is known as one of the toughest footraces in the world. In 2018, he completed another similar race called the Jungle Ultra. This race goes through the Amazon jungle.
See also
