In 2025, Frontier Nursing University honored the 100-year anniversary of the inception of the Frontier Nursing Service. We are grateful for the alumni, students, couriers, donors, volunteers, friends, and employees who have made an incredible impact on FNU’s century-long journey. We celebrated this milestone year by capturing and sharing some of the countless stories that make up our history. Whatever your connection to FNU, we hope you enjoy these stories.
Married physicians Drs. Susan Graham, MD, and Jon Kucera, MD, understand the importance of quality healthcare and the challenging lack of access that many people face. Dr. Graham is a cardiologist and Dr. Kucera is an Internist. Both have over 35 years of experience and practice primarily in Buffalo, New York.
The couple have long been major supporters of Frontier Nursing University. Dr. Graham is a member of the extended Breckinridge family and, along with her husband, believes in the vision and mission of FNU.
“I have worked as a general internist, most recently in a Federally Qualified Health Center in an underserved area of urban Buffalo,” Dr. Kucera said. “The lack of primary care providers available to accept new patients into their practices everywhere has been painfully apparent. This is even more of an issue in rural or under-served urban areas, or if as a patient you don’t have insurance or have Medicaid or Medicare. I am proud to support FNU and its mission. As a top-ranked educator of graduate-level nurses and a champion of remote learning long before the pandemic, FNU is strategically placed to meet the health care needs of the future.”
“The FNU model builds on the strengths of the individual in their daily lives and local communities,” Dr. Graham said. “The students bring an understanding of the priorities and key drivers of health in their own practices. Working on methods and solutions is the immediate result of such shared experience. Health care barriers and patient needs have similarities across rural and underserved populations. Thus, with this focus and shared philosophy, the students, faculty, and alumni have a platform for communication, research, and advocacy. FNU graduates are energized, involved, and unafraid to think broadly, ask questions, and be part of new solutions.”
Financial gifts from Drs. Graham and Kucera have supported many FNU initiatives, such as student scholarships, the Kitty Ernst Midwifery Endowed Chair Fund, establishing the walking trail on FNU’s Versailles campus, and creating an endowment for Student Access and Success programs. Dr. Graham also lends her expertise as a long-time member of the university’s Leadership Council.
In 2020, FNU presented Drs. Graham and Kucera with FNU’s Lifetime Service Award in recognition of their longstanding support of the university and its mission.
