Percy Julian is best known for formulating a drug to treat glaucoma and for synthesizing sex hormones and cortisone. A native of Montgomery, Alabama and the grandson of former slaves, Julian was born first of six children on April 11, 1899. His mother, Elizabeth Lena Adams Julian, taught school and his father, James Sumner Julian, also a teacher, worked as a railroad mail clerk.

Julian graduated with the standard eight years of education from the State Normal School for Negroes in 1916 and then took additional courses to prepare for a white college. In 1920, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian of his class at DePauw University, where he lived in a fraternity house attic and earned tuition by waiting tables. Because doctoral programs passed over black students, he was unable to obtain a fellowship. For two years he taught chemistry at Fisk University, then received an Austin Fellowship to study...