Thomas Milton Rivers

"[1] Born in Jonesboro, Georgia, he graduated from Emory College in 1909 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

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.

In 1934 Rivers was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in section 10 (pathology and microbiology).

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.

Rivers died at Forest Hills, New York in 1962 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on account of his military rank.

Leaders in the effort against polio were honored at the opening of the Polio Hall of Fame on January 2, 1958. From left: Thomas M. Rivers, Charles Armstrong , 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 . [ 2 ]
Grave at Arlington National Cemetery