Today In Black History
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian, Acclaimed organic and steroid chemist
Issue #570 Today In Black History, Wednesday, April 17, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
Percy Julian was a groundbreaking chemist who made significant contributions to the fields of organic chemistry and medicine. He was born on April 11, 1899, in Montgomery, Alabama, and he persevered and became one of the most influential African-American scientists of the 20th century.
Inadequately prepared by his high school, he was accepted at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as a sub-freshman, meaning that he had to take high school courses concurrently with his freshman courses. He excelled academically and was the valedictorian of his 1920 graduating class and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
After graduation, he taught chemistry at Fisk University for two years before winning an Austin Fellowship to Harvard University, where he completed a master’s degree in organic chemistry.
However, worried that white students would resent being taught by an African American, Harvard withdrew Julian's teaching assistantship, making it impossible for him to complete his Ph.D. there.
In 1929 Julian traveled to the University of Vienna, Austria, and completed his doctoral studies on the chemistry of medicinal plants.
A steroid chemist and an entrepreneur, Percy Julian ingeniously figured out how to synthesize important medicinal compounds from abundant plant sources, making them more affordable to mass produce.
His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.
Dr. Julian's most significant contributions came in the field of organic chemistry. He developed a method to synthesize physostigmine, a drug used to treat glaucoma, and cortisone, a hormone that revolutionized the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Dr. Julian's work paved the way for the development of other synthetic drugs and led to significant advancements in the field of medicine.
Dr. Julian remained at Glidden until 1954 when he founded his own company, Julian Laboratories of Franklin Park, Illinois, and Mexico City (which he eventually sold to Smith, Kline, and French).
In addition to his scientific accomplishments, Julian was a prominent civil rights activist. He spoke out against segregation and discrimination, and he worked to promote equal rights for all people.
Throughout his life he was socially active in groups seeking to advance conditions for African Americans, helping to found the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of Chicago, and serving on the boards of several other organizations and universities.
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian died on April 19, 1975, at age 76 in Waukegan, Illinois.
Today In Black History
- In 1758, Francis Williams, the first Black graduate of a North American college, published a book of poems.
- In 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union.
- In 1932, Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie ended slavery in Ethiopia.
- In 2015, jazz composer and saxophonist John Coltrane was posthumously awarded a Special Citation Pulitzer Prize.
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