On This Day In Alabama History: Percy Lavon Julian Was Born In Montgomery

By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200

April 11, 1899

Synthetic chemist Percy Lavon Julian was born in Montgomery.

Julian attended segregated public schools in Alabama for eight years, the maximum allowed to black students, and two years at the Lincoln Normal School in Marion. After earning degrees from Depauw University and Harvard University, he graduated from the University of Vienna to become only the third African American in the world to earn a PhD in chemistry. Julian’s research in the field of natural products chemistry resulted in more than 160 publications and 100 patents and he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

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