Founder Ezra D. Alexander was born on July 18, 1891, in Bloomington, Indiana, and graduated from Bloomington High School in 1910. He enrolled at Indiana University and earned an A.B. degree in 1917. Before completing his undergraduate studies, he worked as a teacher and school principal. Alexander earned his medical degree in 1919 and completed an internship at Provident Hospital in Chicago. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I and as a medical examiner during World War II.