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Quick Facts
- NAME: Percy Julian
- OCCUPATION: Academic, Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional, Chemist
- BIRTH DATE: April 11, 1899
- DEATH DATE: April 19, 1975
- EDUCATION: De Pauw University, Harvard University, University of Vienna
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Montgomery, Alabama
- PLACE OF DEATH: Waukegan, Illinois
- Full Name: Percy Lavon Julian
- AKA: Percy Julian
Best Known For
African-American chemist Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.
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Play NowPercy Jullian. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:48, May 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018.
Percy Jullian. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018 [Accessed 20 May 2013].
"Percy Jullian." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 20 2013, 02:48 http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018.
"Percy Jullian," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018 [accessed May 20, 2013].
"Percy Jullian," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018 (accessed May 20, 2013).
Percy Jullian [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018.
Percy Jullian, http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018 (last visited May 20, 2013).
Percy Jullian. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/percy-julian-9359018. Accessed May 20, 2013.
Synopsis
Born to former slaves in Alabama in 1899, pioneering chemist Percy Julian was not allowed to attend high school but went on to earn his Ph.D. His research at academic and corporate institutions led to the chemical synthesis of drugs to treat glaucoma and arthritis, and although his race presented challenges at every turn, he is regarded as one of the most influential chemists in American history.
Early Life
Percy Lavon Julian was born April 11, 1899, in Montgomery, Alabama, the grandson of former slaves. He attended school through the eighth grade but there were no high schools open to black students. He applied to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he had to take high school-level classes in the evening to get him up to the academic level of his peers. In spite of this challenging beginning, he graduated first in his class, with Phi Beta Kappa honors.
Life in Academia
After college, Julian accepted a position as a chemistry instructor at Fisk University. He left in 1923 when he received a scholarship to attend Harvard University to finish his master’s degree, though the university would not allow him to pursue his doctorate. He traveled for several years, teaching at black colleges, before obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna in Austria in 1931.
With his doctorate in hand, he returned to DePauw to continue his research. In 1935 he earned international acclaim by synthesizing physostigmine from the calabar bean to create a drug treatment for glaucoma, but in spite of his success, the university refused to make him a full professor because of his race.
Later Career
Desiring to leave academia, Julian applied for jobs at prominent chemical companies, but was repeatedly rejected when hiring managers discovered that he was black. Ultimately, he obtained a position at Glidden Company as the lab director. There he invented Aero-Foam, a product that uses soy protein to put out oil and gas fires and was widely used in World War II, as well as other soybean-based inventions.
Julian continued his biomedical work as well, and discovered how to extract sterols from soybean oil and synthesize the hormones progesterone and testosterone. He was also lauded for his synthesis of cortisone, which became used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Julian left Glidden in 1953 and established his own laboratory, Julian Laboratories, in 1954. He sold the company in 1961, becoming one of the first black millionaires, before founding Julian Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that he ran for the rest of his life.
He died of liver cancer on April 19, 1975.
Recognition
Julian was the first black chemist elected to the National Academy of the Sciences, in 1973. In 1990 he was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and in 1999 his synthesis of physostigmine was recognized by the American Chemical Society as “one of the top 25 achievements in the history of American chemistry.”
Personal Life
Julian met his wife, Anna Roselle, while employed at Howard University, and the two were accused of having an affair while she was married to one of his colleagues.
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