Editor’s Note: As Dr. Susan Stone completes the final year of her 22-year tenure as the President of Frontier Nursing University, we continue to celebrate and honor her impact, leadership, and influence on the university as well as the nursing and midwifery professions.
Earlier this year, Frontier Nursing University President Dr. Susan Stone announced that she will transition into the role of FNU’s Distinguished Chair of Midwifery and Nursing at or near the end of 2023. In that role, she will spend more of her time outside of the university as a national leader and advocate for the nursing and midwifery professions. Her experience, expertise, knowledge, passion, and well-earned reputation as a leader make Dr. Stone a strong voice in the worlds of nursing, midwifery, healthcare, and education.
Dr. Stone has been a prominent presence at the university since 1991. She has been a student, instructor, Dean, and, for the last 22 years, President of FNU. Her impact on the course and success of the university is immeasurable, and it will extend long past her tenure as president.
Her accolades include the American College of Nurse-Midwives Kitty Ernst Award in 1999; Fellow, American College of Nurse-Midwives in 2005; the National Rural Health Association Distinguished Educator Award in 2011; the American Public Health Association Felicia Stewart Advocacy Award in 2011; Fellow, American Academy of Nursing in 2012; University of Tennessee Health Science Center Nurse Alumna of the Year in 2016; National Academy of Medicine Inductee in 2018; and the Frontier Nursing University Lifetime Service Award in 2023.
It is difficult to adequately express the importance of Dr. Stone’s role in the history of Frontier Nursing University. In an effort to help do so, FNU interviewed several university leaders to gain their perspectives on Dr. Stone’s impact, leadership, innovation, and passion. Among those interviewed were Dean of Nursing Dr. Joan Slager, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Paula Alexander- Delpech, Chief Operating Officer Shelley Aldridge, Board member and fellow FNU alumnus Dr. Kerri Schuiling, and Board Chair Dr. Michael Carter.
Dr. Stone will be honored during a Celebration Gala on Friday, Oct. 27, from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Lexington Griffin Gate Marriott in Lexington. To learn more, visit frontier.edu/celebration.
Shelley Aldridge:
When I think of Sue, I think of two words: Passionate and visionary. One thing about Sue Stone is she takes the success of our students very seriously. And she wants our students to achieve their dreams of becoming a nurse-midwife or advanced nurse-practitioner and graduate from Frontier.
Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech:
When I first came to Frontier, I immediately realized Sue Stone’s commitment to the University. She was so excited that she began to share the history of the university with me. One of the reasons why Sue is such a dynamic leader is that she always makes sure everyone is included. She will listen to you, and she will help you achieve your goals.
Michael Carter:
Sue is so highly committed to mothers and babies and the families who care for them, particularly those mothers who live in areas in which they do not have access to high-quality women’s healthcare and primary care. She believes passionately that we can be an instrument of change to improve the outcomes for all people.
I’m so excited that the future for Dr. Stone is to step into this professorship and continue her wise advice to the board and to the nation. Her work in this professorship is part of the solution for the many challenges that we face in this country.
Keri Schuiling:
She’s a force to be reckoned with. In some ways, she can be very maternal. Don’t get between Sue and the school and what the school needs to be doing, and don’t ever get between Sue and what her students need.
She is so involved in so many different organizations around health care. She’s not just involved in one organization. She’s involved, and she leads in several organizations. Her getting inducted into the American Academy of Nursing, for example, or the National Academy of Medicine, that speaks to her vision. She’s worldly. She has a global vision about what’s going on.
Dr. Joan Slager:
She is uncompromising when it comes to adherence to Frontier’s mission, to the midwifery model of care, and to the profession of midwifery. She told me once, “One of the reasons you need to be Dean is you’re not afraid to disagree with me. It’s dangerous to have one person making all the decisions, and you’re not afraid to say ‘I disagree.’”
Sue is a strong leader. This is her strength. She’s not afraid to do something out of the ordinary if she believes in her heart it will work. And she believes in herself. She’s also very collaborative; she likes to check out ideas, run things by people. Ultimately, she’s not afraid to make the call.
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).