The National Honor Society for the Allied Health Professions

The development of a national honor society for allied health students was proposed in 1973. The purpose of the honor society was to recognize scholarship in allied health students using the model of the University of Florida's local honor society, Eta Rho Phi. Dr. Howard Suzuki, of the University of Florida, made inquiries to allied health administrators concerning the feasibility of developing such an honor society on a national scale. 

The American Society of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP) was then approached for their input and an ad hoc committee was appointed to determine the feasibility and interest of developing such a society. A meeting was held on August 31, 1973, in Atlanta, at Emory University. 

A draft of the bylaws, modeled after the University of Florida's bylaws, was approved at that meeting. The society was named for the Greek letters equivalent to the first letters of Allied Health, which were Alpha Eta.