In 2025, Frontier Nursing University celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the inception of the Frontier Nursing Service. We are grateful for the students, alumni, couriers, donors, volunteers, friends, and employees who have made an incredible impact on FNU’s century-long journey. We are celebrating 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 and are inspired to share your own story with us.
Dr. Susan Stone served as President of Frontier Nursing University from 2001-2024. During her tenure, Dr. Stone led the campus move from Hyden to Versailles, Kentucky. She championed prioritizing increasing enrollment and diversifying the student body to produce graduates prepared to address healthcare disparities nationwide. Under her leadership, FNU’s enrollment grew from 200 to more than 2,500. Enrollment of students of color grew from 9% in 2010 to 30% in 2024.
Throughout FNU’s growth and innovation, Dr. Stone kept the university on a path of commitment to the mission of educating advanced practice nurses and midwives to serve in rural and underserved areas. Today, more than 10,000 FNU graduates practice in every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries.
“I’m most proud that we took this little, tiny school that was offering certificates and became an accredited university that are offering master’s degrees and doctoral degrees that we’ve been able to add programs as they were needed,” Dr. Stone said. “Here we are with a broad scope of practice and practitioners that can really provide the care, the caring that nurses do as well as highly-skilled healthcare to these rural and underserved families all across the nation. With over 10,000 graduates out there just from the distance learning program, we are really making an impact. That, I would have to say, is what I’m most proud of our accomplishments.
While practicing as a certified nurse-midwife at Bassett HealthCare, Dr. Stone continued her affiliation with Frontier, serving as course faculty; regional clinical coordinator; assistant clinical director; program director of the community-based nurse-midwifery education program; and dean. In 2001, Dr. Stone became president of FNU, serving as both the president and dean before relinquishing the dean duties in 2014 to focus solely on her role as president and as a leader throughout the healthcare community.
Dr. Stone was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine Class of 2018 and was president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) from 2019-2020. She is a Fellow at both ACNM and the American Academy of Nursing. She received ACNM’s Kitty Ernst Award in 1999, recognizing “innovative, creative endeavors in midwifery practice and women’s health care.” Other honors include the 2011 American Public Health Association’s prestigious Felicia Stewart Advocacy Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a strong commitment to advocacy for reproductive health and rights.
Dr. Stone’s accomplishments and reputation as a leader and advocate have made her a frequently invited speaker at national conferences. Among her many engagements, she has presented at such prestigious events as Beyond Flexner (2018, Atlanta); the American College of Nurse-Midwives annual meeting (2017, Chicago, Ill.); the International Midwifery Conference in Education in Research (2012, Nottingham, England); and the International Confederation of Midwives 28th Triennial Congress (2008, Glasgow, Scotland).
We want to celebrate our anniversary by capturing and sharing the countless stories that make up our history. Whatever your connection to FNU, we are incredibly grateful to you and want to hear your Frontier story.
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