Frontier Nursing University (FNU) announced its annual award recipients for 2024. These awards are presented to FNU alumni who have gone on to make significant contributions to their communities or to the university. The awards were presented at a ceremony during FNU’s Homecoming event on March 23.
FNU was founded in 1939 as the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery. FNU has since grown to become one of the largest not for profit universities in the United States for advanced nursing and midwifery education. As a pioneer in graduate nursing and nurse-midwifery education, FNU remains at the forefront of innovation and technology with top-ranked, accredited programs delivered via community-based distance education. Frontier Nursing University offers a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, and post-graduate certificates leading to education as a certified nurse-midwife (CNM), family nurse practitioner (FNP), women’s health care nurse practitioner (WHNP) and/or psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP).
“So many of our alumni have gone on to do amazing things in communities all across the country and even the world,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, CNM, DNSc, FAAN, FACNM. “I am so proud of the way they represent and support Frontier Nursing University. Their dedication, commitment, and generosity are truly inspiring.”
Distinguished Service to Society Award
The Distinguished Service to Society award recognizes an alumnus who goes above and beyond to provide exceptional service in his or her community. The 2024 recipients of this award are Dr. Francis Aho, DNP, CNM, and Christopher Davis, MSN, FNP-C, ENP-C.
Dr. Francis Aho is the director of the Africa Mission Services Community Health Clinic and Women’s Health Center serving the Maasai tribe of Kenya. Born in Switzerland, Aho moved to the United States when she was 4 years old and spent most of her childhood in western Tennessee. After obtaining her RN, she worked as an ER nurse for four years before resigning and traveling to Honduras, where she assisted in a medical capacity in clinics as a nurse.
Christopher Davis is a United States Public Health Service (UPHS) officer assigned to the Department of Justice. He currently works in a medium-security prison in his home state of South Carolina, treating adult male patients who have been incarcerated. Hepatitis C, HIV, and opioid use disorder are among the common conditions he treats. Davis began his career in health care as a paramedic, during which time his responsibilities included 911 responses, critical care transports, and flight medicine.
Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Award
The Distinguished Service to Alma Mater honors an alumnus who has continued to provide support to Frontier through volunteer efforts and/or philanthropy. The 2024 recipient is Dr. Tia Andrighetti, CNM, APRN, CHSE-A, CNE, FACNM.
Dr. Tia Andrighetti has been a faculty member at Frontier Nursing University for 20 years. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at FNU and is also the university’s Innovation Coach and Simulation Coordinator. Andrighetti grew up in Connecticut and attended Penn State University as a pre-med student but ultimately chose to become a nurse instead. She obtained her MSN from Case Western University and her nurse-midwifery certificate from Frontier in 1997. After doing her clinicals in Florida, Andrighetti moved to Connecticut, where she worked in private practice while her husband went to law school. She left practice for a few years to have children, then became regional clinical faculty (RCF) at Frontier and went on to obtain her DNP from Frontier in 2010.
Unbridled Spirit Award
The Unbridled Spirit Award is given annually to a former Courier who is dedicated to serving others, has ongoing, longstanding stewardship of Frontier; and has demonstrated conviction, courage, and a zest for adventure. The Courier Program Public Health Internship is an eight-week rural and public health summer service-learning program for college students with an interest in public health, healthcare, or a related field. The 2024 recipient is Dr. Elia R. Cole.
Dr. Cole is a Family Medicine physician with Northwest Permanente. In her current practice, she sees patients virtually, providing a blend of urgent and primary care to patients in Washington and Oregon. Cole is a member of her local executive board of the Washington Association of Family Physicians. She was born in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York. As a young girl, Dr. Cole’s mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. An all-female medical team became a decisive influence when Cole realized she wanted to be a doctor, too.
Lifetime Service Award
The Lifetime Service Award recognizes an individual or organization providing long-standing support and commitment to the mission and work of Frontier Nursing Service and Frontier Nursing University. The 2024 recipient of this award is Janice L. Bovée, MSN, CNM.
In her 46 years as a Registered Nurse, Bovée “caught” 1,867 babies, assisted physicians in more than 500 cesarean sections, and mentored hundreds of nurses and student nurse-midwives. It is the career she dreamed of even as a child. Born in Mesa, Arizona, she attended high school in Phoenix and became a candy-striper through the American Red Cross program when she was 16. She married shortly after graduating from high school and had her first child while enrolled in a junior college nursing program. A year after the birth of her second child, Bovée graduated with an associate degree in nursing in 1978 and began working as an RN in a small rural hospital.
Distinguished Preceptor Award
The Distinguished Preceptor Award recognizes an alumnus providing long-standing support and commitment to the mission and work of Frontier Nursing Service and Frontier Nursing University through precepting students. The 2024 recipient of this award is Dr. Sandi Mellor, DNP, APRN, FNP.
Dr. Mellor was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she now owns Neighborhood Medical Clinic, a combined family and urgent care practice. She knew at an early age that she wanted to pursue a medical career and took a medical-surgical nursing class while still in high school. She worked towards her associate degree in nursing and worked as a nurse for three years for the National Health Authority in Bedford, England, where her husband was stationed as a member of the U.S. Air Force. Upon returning to the United States, she completed her bachelor of science in nursing degree in 1998. While raising two sons, she worked in the cardiac intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and neonatal intensive care unit, as well as the trauma and emergency room.
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