Percy Lavon Julian
| Percy Lavon Julian | |
|---|---|
Julian circa 1940–1950
|
|
| Born |
April 11, 1899 Montgomery, Alabama |
| Died | April 19, 1975 (aged 76) Waukegan, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
DePauw University (BA) Harvard University (MS) University of Vienna (PhD) |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Roselle Johnson (1935–1975) |
| Children | Percy Lavon Julian, Jr. (1940–2008) Faith Roselle Julian (1944–) |
| Parent(s) | Elizabeth Lena Adams (1878–?) James Sumner Julian (1871–1951) |
Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an African American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.
He later started his own company to synthesize steroid intermediates from the wild Mexican yam. His work helped greatly reduce the cost of steroid intermediates to large multinational pharmaceutical companies, helping to significantly expand the use of several important drugs.
Julian received more than 130 chemical patents. He was one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry. He was the first African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African-American scientist inducted (behind David Blackwell) from any field.
Percy Lavon Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama, as the first child of six born to James Sumner Julian and Elizabeth Lena Julian, née Adams. Both of his parents were graduates of what was to be Alabama State University. His father, James, whose own father had been a slave, was employed as a clerk in the Railway Service of the United States Post Office, while his mother, Elizabeth, worked as a schoolteacher. Percy Julian grew up in the time of racist Jim Crow culture and legal regime in the southern United States. Among his childhood memories was finding a lynched man hanged from a tree while walking in the woods near his home. At a time when access to an education beyond the eighth grade was extremely rare for African-Americans, Julian's parents steered all of their children toward higher education.
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