He synthesized a hormone drug from soybeans after being barred from the labs he needed

Chemist Percy Julian was repeatedly denied academic posts because of his race, despite a PhD from Vienna. Working in industry instead, he found ways to mass-produce physostigmine and cortisone precursors cheaply from soybean oil, putting treatments for glaucoma and arthritis within reach of ordinary patients. He held more than 130 patents by the end of his career.

— National Academy of Sciences biographical record, Percy Lavon Julian — Career spanning 1930s–1970s