Dr. Frank L. Douglas grew up in British Guiana with his mother and four siblings. His love of education earned him a Fulbright Scholarship and he came to America during the turbulent years of the 1960s. He worked at Ciba Geigy and Aventis, and was involved in pharmaceutical research for drugs that treat tuberculosis, arthritis, diabetes, seizures, cancer, and pulmonary embolism, among others.

Douglas has received the Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development Director of the Year Award in 2001 and 2004; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers in 2002; the Black History Maker Award in 2007; the Geoffrey Beene Foundation and GQ Magazine Rock Star of Science in 2010; and the Caribbean Heritage Award for Entrepreneurship in 2011

Douglas wrote Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream in honor of all who helped him on his journey.