Hildrus Augustus "Gus" Poindexter (May 10, 1901 – April 21, 1987) was an American bacteriologist who studied the epidemiology of tropical diseases. Poindexter was the third son and sixth child of eleven children born from the legal Christian marital union of Fred Poindexter, born enslaved in Kentucky, and Luvenia Gilbert, born free in Virginia. (1,2) His father was a tenant farmer and along with his siblings, he grew up learning and tending to farming tasks.