John Franklin Enders (1897-1985)

Awarded the Prize “for the discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue.”

American virologist and microbiologist. Enders was born on February 10, 1897 at West Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1920. He received the degree of M.A. in 1922 and Ph.D. in 1930, both at Harvard. He then joined Harvard faculty, becoming Higgins University Professor. He was Chief of the Research Division of Infectious Diseases of the Children’s Hospital, Boston. Enders died on September 8, 1985 at Waterford, Connecticut.