[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 121, 110th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
[NOTE: Feb. 1, 2007 -  [H.Con.Res.34] PERCY LAVON JULIAN--HONORING

Whereas Percy Julian was born on April 11, 1899, in Montgomery, Alabama,
the son of a railway clerk and the first member of his family to
attend college, graduating from DePauw University in 1920, receiving
a M.S. degree from Harvard University in 1923 and a Ph.D. from the
University of Vienna in 1931;

Whereas in 1935 Dr. Julian became the first to discover a process to
synthesize physostigmine, the drug used in the treatment of
glaucoma;

Whereas Dr. Julian later pioneered a commercial process to synthesize
cortisone from soy beans and yams, enabling the widespread use of
cortisone as an affordable treatment of arthritis;

Whereas Dr. Julian was the first African American chemist elected to the
National Academy of Sciences in 1973 for his lifetime of scientific
accomplishments, held over 130 patents at the time of his death in
1975, and dedicated much of his life to the advancement of African
Americans in the sciences; and

Whereas Dr. Julian's life story has been documented in the PBS NOVA film
``Forgotten Genius'': Now, therefore, be it


[[Page 2576]]
121 STAT. 2576



Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That the Congress honors the life of Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneer in
the field of organic chemistry research and development and the first
and only African American chemist to be inducted into the National
Academy of Sciences.

Agreed to February 1, 2007.