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Scientific Biographies

Science is a human pursuit. Meet some of the people who have contributed to the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
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Percy Lavon Julian

The grandson of enslaved people, Julian overcame racial barriers to achieve scientific, business, and personal success.

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Dr. Percy Lavon Julian is pictured at the newly constructed chemistry building named in his honor at MacMurray College, 1972.
Science History Institute
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian honored at MacMurray College

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Paula Hammond in her lab at MIT.
Paula Hammond
b. 1963
Anna Jane Harrison
1912 - 1998
Elizabeth Lee Hazen
1885 - 1975
Yeast Art portrait of Fanny Angelina Hesse
Fanny Angelina Hesse
1850 - 1934
Dorothy Hodgkin in 1991 is shown seated and smiling. Her hair is half up and she is wearing a floral dress with brown panels.
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
1910 - 1994
woman with gray hair wearing glasses
Darleane C. Hoffman
1926 - 2025
old photograph of two people in a lab
Irène Joliot-Curie
1897 - 1956
Stephanie L. Kwolek
1923 - 2014
Jane Marcet
1769 - 1858
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
b. 1953
A black-and-white photograph of a woman with a serious expression, wearing a dark top with a white collar.
Lise Meitner
1878 - 1968
Undated photograph of biochemist Maud Leonora Menten.
Maud Leonora Menten
1879 - 1960
Margery Milne
1914 - 2006
woman with glasses seated at a table reading a book
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
1900 - 1979
b/w photo of a women seated in a dress
Mary Engle Pennington
1872 - 1952
portrait of Ellen Richards in a cap and gown
Ellen H. Swallow Richards
1842 - 1911
woman seated writing notes
Maxine Singer
1931 - 2024
Susan Solomon
b. 1956
Rosalyn Yalow
1921 - 2011
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About Scientific Biographies

Everything you need to know about our scientific biographies, including how to contact us, cite a biography, pitch a scientist, write a biography, or republish a biography.