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birth of Percy
Percy Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama as the first child of six born to James Sumner Julian and Elizabeth Lena (Adams) Julian. -
Percy in college
Julian attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. The college accepted few African-American students.Julian was not allowed to live in the college dormitories and first stayed in an off-campus boarding home, which refused to serve him meals. It took him days before Julian found an establishment where he could eat. -
Chemistry Instructor
He then received an Austin Fellowship in Chemistry and went to Harvard University in 1923 for his M.S. Worried that white students would resent being taught by an African American, Harvard withdrew Julian's teaching assistantship. He was unable to complete his PhD at Harvard. -
Earning His PhD
In 1929, while an instructor at Howard University, Julian received a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to continue his graduate work at the University of Vienna, where he earned his PhD in 1931.Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a PhD in chemistry -
The Masters Degree
Percy Julian was the second African American to get a masters degree in chemistry. He was the first African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the second African-American scientist inducted from any field. -
His Wife
After returning from Vienna, Julian taught at Howard University for one year, where he met his future wife, Anna Roselle Johnson (PhD in Sociology, 1937, University of Pennsylvania). They married on December 24, 1935 and had two children. -
His Children
Percy Lavon Julian, Jr. (August 31, 1940 – February 24, 2008), who became a prestigious civil rights lawyer in Madison, Wisconsin; and Faith Roselle Julian (1944– ), who still resides in their Oak Park home and often makes moving speeches about her father and his contributions to science. -
His Achievements Before He Died
In 1964, Julian founded Julian Associates and Julian Research Institute, which he managed for the rest of his life.He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973 in recognition of his scientific achievements. He became the second African American to be inducted, after David Blackwell. -
His Death
Julian died of liver cancer on April 19, 1975 in St. Theresa's Hospital in Waukegan, Illinois and was buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Elmhurst, Illinois.
