Dr. Kristin B. Ashford, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAAN
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) announced that Dr. Kristin B. Ashford, PhD, WHNP-BC, FAAN, will be the university’s new Dean of Nursing effective July 1, 2025. Dr. Ashford replaces Dr. Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, FACNM, FAAN, who retired at the end of February having served as FNU’s Dean of Nursing since 2018. Dr. Diane John, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC, CNE, who has served as the Interim Dean of Nursing since March 1, will continue in that role until July 1.
“After a thorough and competitive search, we are very proud to welcome Dr. Ashford as our new Dean of Nursing,” said FNU President Dr. Brooke A. Flinders, DNP, RN, APRN-CNM, FACNM. “Dr. Ashford brings a wealth of experience as a practitioner, educator, and administrator. I am excited to see her leadership and expertise advance the tremendous work of her predecessors in service to our students and our mission.”
Dr. Ashford comes to FNU from the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Nursing, where she is a professor and Endowed Good Samaritan Chair for Community Nursing. She is the founder and director of the UK College of Nursing Perinatal and Research Center, leading an interprofessional team to translate research into practice while informing policy makers on maternal and child health issues. She is also the co-director of UK’s BREATHE (Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments).
“I am honored to accept the position of Dean of Nursing at Frontier Nursing University,” Dr. Ashford said. “Frontier has a long-standing record of excellence and a well-earned reputation for commitment to its students and the communities they serve. I have a love for teaching and mentoring students. I am humbled and excited for the opportunity to work with Frontier’s students and empower them to positively impact access to quality, compassionate healthcare across the country,” Dr. Ashford said.
Her extensive administrative experience at the UK College of Nursing includes serving as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Health Policy (2022-2024), Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Interprofessional Education (2017-2022), and Assistant Dean of Research (2015-2017).
Dr. Ashford received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Washburn University, her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Louisville, and a PhD in nursing from the University of Kentucky. Among her many accomplishments, she is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Medicine in 2021. She received the Florence Nightingale Outstanding Nurse of the Year Award from the University of Louisville in 2016.
Dr. Ashford is a dedicated researcher with over 60 scholarly publications and more than $10 million in funding as a primary investigator. The majority of her research focuses on improving health for pregnant and postpartum women with addiction, primarily tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and opioid use disorder. She is an internationally known nursing expert in the field of perinatal tobacco use, immune response research, and preterm birth (PTB).
“I am excited and honored to be joining the Frontier Nursing University community,” Dr. Ashford said. “The mission of Frontier Nursing aligns closely with my values, likely stemming from my rural upbringing and my commitment to improving community health through collaborative partnerships.
Frontier graduate Emily Levingston Luna, CNM, MSN, is making a significant impact on midwifery care in her home community of Las Cruces, New Mexico. As the founder of 
“Midwifery stood out to me as a vocation that included many of the things I feel strongly about: bodily autonomy, trauma-informed care, and reproductive justice in particular,” she said. “I chose the CNM pathway to midwifery because I wanted to be able to offer the fullest scope of care possible.”
“I think midwives tread lightly and respectfully in some of the most significant and vulnerable experiences of our clients’ lives,” Luna said of her profession. “We’re extra mindful of the weight of that, and also we’re responsible for guarding safety and providing sound, evidence-based information and guidance. We take extra time and move a little more slowly in an effort to really get to know our clients and also in an effort to help them feel known and seen.”
“I had such a supportive experience as a student at FNU, and it was helpful to hear the experiences of faculty members,” she said. “I think the variety there really helped solidify for me that practicing midwifery could look lots of ways, and empowered me to really pursue what felt right for me. I loved 
Frontier Nursing University recently announced that two new members have been appointed to the university’s President’s Cabinet. Jenkins Michelle Lawhorn, DNP, CNM, RNC-OB, and Chris Turley, MS, BS, will serve on the President’s Cabinet throughout 2025.
The mission of Frontier’s Continuing Education Program is to create CE offerings, in collaboration with the community, that respond to the professional development needs of advanced practice nurses and midwives in the areas of scholarship, practice, entrepreneurship and service to work with all people, with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities.
In the world of healthcare, there are individuals who go beyond their job descriptions to make a lasting impact on their patients and the next generation of professionals. Deena Parsons, CNM, with TriHealth Associates in Ob-Gyn, is one such individual.
FNU has named Dr. Diane John, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC, CNE, as the Interim Dean of Nursing in the wake of former Dean Dr. Joan Slager’s retirement. 
Dr. Michael Carter’s long history with Frontier Nursing University dates to 2003 when he joined what was then the Frontier Nursing Service Board of Governors. Dr. Carter has been a board member ever since and has served as the Board Chair since 2009. 
Dr. Sarah Carter was one of six women in her class when she earned her M.D. from the UAMS College of Medicine in1965. Board-certified in internal medicine and geriatrics, she devoted much of her career to working with the Veterans Affairs Health Care System. She was the Chief of Ambulatory Care and Chief of Staff at the Memphis VA Medical Center but also treated patients at VAs across the country.
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
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).