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Percy Lavon Julian

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Percy Lavon Julian
OccupationChemist
ChildrenPercy Lavon Julian, Jr. (1940- )
File:PercyJulianStamp.jpg
Percy Julian stamp released by the US Postal Service, 1993.

Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist, and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. During his lifetime he received more than 130 chemical patents. Julian was the first African American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African American scientist of any field. Julian's work on large scale synthesis of female hormones , from soybean sterols eventually led to The Birth Control Pill, Combined oral contraceptive pill.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Julian's work on large scale synthesis of female hormones , from soybean sterols eventually led to The Birth Control Pill, Combined oral contraceptive pill.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).. Although some residents welcomed them into the community, there was also widespread antipathy towards them. Their home was fire-bombed on Thanksgiving Day, 1950, before they moved in. After they moved to Oak Park, the house was attacked with dynamite on June 12, 1951. The attacks galvanized the community and a community group was formed to support the Julians.

In 1953, he founded his own research firm, Julian Laboratories, Inc. He sold the company in 1961, for $2 million dollars (worth $13.5 million in inflation adjusted 2006 dollars ) and in 1964, he founded Julian Associates and Julian Research Institute, which he managed for the rest of his life.

National Academy of Sciences

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973 in recognition of his scientific achievements. He was the second African American after David Blackwell.

Julian died in April of 1975 in St. Theresa's Hospital in Waukegan, Illinois and was buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Legacy

In 1975, Percy L. Julian High School was opened on the south side of Chicago, Illinois as a Chicago Public High School. Also in 1983, Hawthorne School in Oak Park was renamed Percy Julian Middle School. In 1980, the science and mathematics building on the DePauw University campus was rededicated as the Percy L. Julian Mathematics and Science Center; in Greencastle, Indiana, where DePauw is located, a street was named after him, as well as Julian Hall at Illinois State University, where he was on the board of trustees.

Footnotes

  1. New York Times; November 23, 1950, Thursday; Arson Fails at Home of Negro Scientist. Chicago, November 22, 1950. An attempt was made tonight to burn down the expensive home that Dr. Percy Julian, 51 years old, internationally known Negro research chemist, recently purchased in one of the most exclusive sections in suburban Oak Park.
  2. New York Times; April 21, 1975, Monday; Dr. Percy Julian, Chemist, 76, Dies; Leader in the Fight for Civil Rights Was Synthesizer of Cortisone Drugs. Dr. Percy L. Julian, an internationally known research chemist and a leader in the fight for civil rights, died Saturday in St. Theresa's Hospital, Waukegan, Illinois. He was 76 years old and lived in Oak Park, Illinois.

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