Percy Lavon Julian was an internationally reputed scientist who undertook pioneering research work in chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. His painstaking research led to industrial production of drugs like cortisone, steroids and birth control pills. Born as a grandson of a freed slave in the racially segregated United States of America, he had to fight at every step to reach his goal. As a young man he was denied proper education and had to go to Vienna to earn his Ph. D. Later, he was refused professorship at DePauw University even though he had by that time become well-known for synthesizing physostigmine, a drug essential for treating the glaucoma. At an older age, he had his house firebombed for daring to live in a white majority locality. Yet, he never gave up and went on to patent 130 products. In the end his persistence bore fruits. By and by, he began to gain recognition. In 1946, Reader’s Digest, the popular monthly magazine published from the US, ran his life story under the title of “The Man Who Wouldn’t Give Up”. Indeed, he never gave up.