Rivers, Thomas Milton (1888–1962)

US virologist. 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 polio vaccine. He served in the armed forces medical corps during both World Wars and edited Viral and Rickettsial Infections of Man from 1948.

He was born in Jonesboro, Georgia. After graduating from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1915, with which he remained affiliated until 1919, he headed the infectious disease ward at Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research 1922–37, and was director 1937–56. After retiring he remained active with the Rockefeller Foundation until 1962.