Inventory to the Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers

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Percy Lavon Julian Family Papers
Series I: Folder 48
DePauw University, Percy L. Julian Centennial Celebration
April 23, 1999

21st Percy L. Julian Memorial Lecture

Billy Joe Evans

    Billy Joe Evans is the second oldest of the eight children of Will Evans, a locomotive fireman, and Mildred Evans, a housewife. He attended the segregated public schools of Macon, Ga., in the midst of a vibrant community of involved neighbors and teachers; older persons played the major role in his growing up. He was an Early admissions Merrill Scholar and a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College. His interest in the electronic structure and properties of solids was already active during his undergraduate studies. He continues this interest through his studies in magnetic materials and solid state chemistry.

     Evans is keenly interested in teacher-learner interactions and the power of mentoring to overcome linear extensions into adulthood of the backgrounds of young people. He has been a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson and Alfred P. Sloan Foundations and a Special Fellow of the Alexander Humboldt Foundation. Evans is a 1995 Catalyst Medalist of the Chemical Manufacturer's Association and the 1997 Awardee of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Award and of the American Chemical Society for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in Chemical Sciences.