Iona College Announces Susan Apold as Director of New Bachelor of Science Degree Program in Nursing
Applications open immediately for Fall 2020 enrollment.
Dr. Susan Apold
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Iona College today announced that Susan Apold, Ph.D., RN, ANP-BC, GNP, FAAN, FAANP, one of the nation’s foremost leaders in the field of nursing who has experience founding and developing programs in New York State, has been named director of Iona’s new Bachelor of Science degree program in nursing.
“Dr. Apold’s vision, experience and expertise will establish Iona as the college of choice for students looking for an elite nursing program that will prepare them to thrive in the growing field of nursing,” said Seamus Carey, Ph.D., president of Iona College. “We are delighted to welcome her to Iona College.”
Iona is ready to accept its first class of elite nursing students this fall. Iona’s rigorous, values-oriented nursing program will offer two pathways to a bachelor’s degree: a traditional 4-year undergraduate program open to both freshman and transfer students, complete with a core, liberal arts curriculum; and an accelerated, 15-month second-degree program for students who already have a bachelor’s in another field. Both pathways will prepare graduates to sit for the National Certification and Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).
The college is accepting applications for both programs immediately. For more information and to apply, please visit www.iona.edu/nursing.
Most recently, Apold served as Dean of the School of Health Science and Nursing at Concordia College in Bronxville, where she had founded and developed the program from 2008 to 2014. Before returning to Concordia last year, she was a clinical professor of nursing at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing for five years.
Among her many accolades, Apold is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellowship Program, a three-year advanced leadership program for nurses in senior roles. Her experience also includes leadership roles such as former president of both the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Nurse Practitioner Association New York State; and founder and project director of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Leadership Development Program.
Apold is a Board-Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner as well as a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. She has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and speaks nationally on nursing.
“The nation needs more nurses, and I am so proud that Iona will be part of the solution,” said Apold, a resident of New Rochelle. “To build a successful nursing program, you need a passion for nursing – which I have. Every single student that I teach, it is as if I am seeing their patients. It is my responsibility to make sure every single student has credible knowledge, and that they have a thorough and deep appreciation of what it takes to stand next to a patient, side by side, to make sure that their care is maximized.”
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2025 national list of “The Best 390 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.