Carlos R. Hamilton Jr. grew up in Houston, graduated from the University of Texas-Austin and earned his M.D. with honors from Baylor College of Medicine. He trained in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital. After completing military service, he practiced internal medicine and endocrinology and served on the clinical faculty at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In 2000, he moved to the University of Texas Health Science Center as special adviser to the president and professor of medicine. He retired after fifty years of medical practice. He and his wife, Carolyn, enjoy life in their hometown of Houston.