They were: They had the support of the Director of the Indiana University Training School for Nurses, Ethel Palmer Clarke (served 1915-1931), who is noted by the Society as being "instrumental" in their endeavor.

IU's Alpha chapter was officially chartered on October 4, 1922, with the organization's first national conference held in 1929 in Indianapolis.

[citation needed] Its 580 chapters are located on more than 700 college and university campuses in the United States and countries including Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, China (Hong Kong), Eswatini, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.

Sixty-one percent of active members hold master’s and/or doctoral degrees; 56% have a specialty certification; 48% are clinicians; 40% have more than 15 years of work experience; 21% are administrators or supervisors, and 20% are educators or researchers.

A US $600 grant awarded to Alice Crist Malone of Ohio State University in 1936 supported research to measure student achievement based on new curriculum objectives.

These peer-reviewed grants are often the first recognition of potent concepts that eventually lead to major, wide-scale research projects and innovation in the nursing profession.