,
John R. Paul,
Thomas Francis Jr.,
Albert Sabin,
Joseph L. Melnick,
Isabel Morgan,
Howard A. Howe,
David Bodian,
Jonas Salk,
Eleanor Roosevelt and
Basil O'Connor. Born in Jonesboro, Georgia, he graduated from
Emory College in 1909 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree. Immediately following graduation, Rivers was admitted to the
Johns Hopkins Medical School. His plans of becoming a physician could not be realized at first as he was diagnosed with a neuromuscular degeneration which forced him to leave medical school and work as a laboratory assistant at a hospital in the
Panama Canal Zone. When by 1912 the illness had not become worse he returned to Johns Hopkins and graduated in 1915. He stayed at Johns Hopkins until 1919. In March 1922 he headed the infectious disease ward at the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and became the institute's director in June 1937. After retiring in 1956, he remained active with the
Rockefeller Foundation. His work in the 1930s and 1940s contributed to making the institute a leader in viral research. In 1934 Rivers was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences in section 10 (
pathology and
microbiology). As chairman of committees on research and vaccine advisory for the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, he oversaw the clinical trials of
Jonas Salk's vaccine. He was elected to the
American Philosophical Society in 1942. He served in the armed forces medical corps during both World Wars. During the Second World War, Rivers led the
Naval Medical Research Unit Two (NAMRU-2) in the South Pacific, rising to the rank of
rear admiral. In 1948 Rivers edited a standard book on viral and
Rickettsial infections. In 1958 he was inducted into the
Polio Hall of Fame at
Warm Springs, Georgia. Rivers was married to Teresa Jacobina Riefle of
Baltimore. Rivers died at
Forest Hills,
New York in 1962 and was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery on account of his military rank. == References ==