In 1961 Keith Royer was elected the first president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI). Keith was the Chief Executive of the Fire Service Institute at Iowa State University. Keith Royer's election as the first president of the International sparked interest in forming an Iowa Chapter of the ISFSI. In 1963 Fire Instructors from around Iowa came together in an Instructors Conference to discuss forming a chapter.The Iowa Society of Fire Service Instructors was formed at the Instructors Conference held in Ames from April 21-24, 1964. Floyd "Bill" Nelson wrote the Constitution and By-Laws that were adopted at that conference. The first president was Sid Skidmore from Sioux City and the first Vice-President was Dean Bebee of Iowa City. Other members of the Board of Directors were Darrell Doss, Ken Copeland, and William McAllen. Garry Mills was selected as Secretary of the Society. Dues for the Society were set at $2.The membership card was designed and the first cards were sent out in 1964. The original design remains in use still in 2002.The ISFSI accepted and recognized the Iowa Society of Fire Service instructors as Chapter 2 of the ISFSI in 1964. The charter was not actually granted to the Iowa Society of Fire Service Instructors until March 3, 1965. The Iowa Society was actually the first chapter so recognized and remains the longest continuously affiliated Chapter of the ISFSI. The Wisconsin Chapter was given the honor of being Chapter 1 because Bill Clark, then the president of the ISFSI, was the Supervisor of Wisconsin Fire Service Training.