St Elmo Brady was born December 22, 1884 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the first African American to obtain a PhD in chemistry in the United States. He received his PhD at the University of Illinois for work done in Noyes Laboratory. He was greatly influenced by Thomas W. Talley, a forerunner in the teaching of science.
St. Elmo Brady in Laboratory at Fisk University
He received his Bachelor’s degree from Fisk University in 1908 and began teaching at the Tuskegee Institute. He was offered a scholarship to the University of Illinois to further his education under the tutelage of Professor George Beal. Over the course of his graduate studies he published three scholarly articles. He finished his MS in chemistry in 1914 and his PhD in 1916 from Illinois.
Brady went on to teach at several universities, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), Howard University, and Fisk University. At Fisk University he developed the first chemistry graduate program in a historically black college.
– Noyes Laboratory. Brady studied Chemistry in this building.
Chemical Heritage Foundation. (2016). St. Elmo Brady. Retrieved from https://www.chemheritage.org/historical-profile/st-elmo-brady
St. Elmo Brady in lab. (1950). Noyes Laboratory Centennial Celebration File, 1930-2002. Record Series 15/5/18, Box 3, Brady, St. Elmo. University of Illinois Archives.
St. Elmo Brady portrait. Noyes Laboratory Centennial Celebration File, 1930-2002. Record Series 15/5/18, Box 3, Brady, St. Elmo. University of Illinois Archives.
The Department of Chemistry. (n.d.) St. Elmo Brady (1884-1966). Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://www.chemistry.illinois.edu/about/illini_chemists/brady.html (Updated link here)