The medical and educational fields have been advanced by the likes of Dr. Percy Lavon Julian, an influential American research chemist who made significant contributions to the synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize physostigmine and pioneered the large-scale chemical synthesis of hormones like progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols. Julian’s work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry, including the production of cortisone and birth control pills.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Julian overcame racial barriers to become one of the first African Americans to receive a doctorate in chemistry and was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences
