Career Milestones
Doctorate by alkaloid (1929-1931)
In 1929, Percy Julian won the opportunity to pursue a dream he had held for
more than a decade: a doctorate in chemistry. Funded by a grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation, he enrolled at the University of Vienna and began work
on alkaloids. His task was to isolate and identify the active ingredient in the
Austrian shrub Corydalis cava, an alkaloid that scientists had found
could soothe pain and calm heart palpitations. This meant breaking the molecule
apart, atom by atom, then deducing its structure—a daunting job at the
time for even the most experienced chemists. Julian succeeded, and in 1931 he
became only the fourth African-American in history to gain a Ph.D. in
chemistry. He returned to the States, ready to launch a career in chemistry.