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Chemist Saint Elmo Brady born on December 22, 1884 in Louisville, Kentucky was the first African American to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. He received his doctorate at the University of Illinois in 1916.

Greatly influenced by Thomas W. Talley, a pioneer in the teaching of science, Brady received his bachelor's degree from Fisk University in 1908 at the age of 24, and immediately began teaching at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Brady also had a close relationship with and was mentored by Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. In 1912, after his time at Tuskegee University, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Illinois to engage in graduate studies. Saint Elmo Brady was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Brady published three scholarly abstracts in Science in 1914-15 on his work with Professor Clarence Derick. He also collaborated with Professor George Beal on a paper published in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry titled, "The Hydrochloride Method for the Determination of Alkaloids." Professor Brady also authored three monographs on Household Chemistry for Girls.

Brady taught at Tuskegee University from 1916 to 1920. Brady accepted a teaching position at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1920 and eventually became the Chair of Howard University's Chemistry Department. In 1927 he moved to Fisk University to chair the school's Chemistry department. He remained at Fisk for 25 years until his retirement in 1952.

While serving as the chair for the Chemistry department at Fisk University, Brady founded the first ever graduate studies program at a black college or university. After his retirement from Fisk, he taught at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. Brady's legacy was his establishment of strong undergraduate curricula, graduate programs, and fundraising development for historically black colleges and universities. In conjunction with faculty from the University of Illinois, he established a summer program in infrared spectroscopy, which was open to faculty from all colleges and universities.

Talley-Brady Hall on the Fisk campus is named after Brady and another Fisk alumnus, Thomas Talley. died on December 25, 1966 in Washington, D.C. He was 82 years of age.

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