Photo by Zena Polin Dr. Warrent Ross helps a human simulator give birth.

The International University of Nursing (IUON) on the outskirts of Basseterre, St. Kitts, is the brainchild of Dr. Robert Ross. At almost 88 years old, Dr. Ross is an eclectic character. He made his millions as an educational entrepreneur.

He founded The Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica and the Ross University Veterinary School, which first opened in St. Kitts in 1981 with 10 students. Nineteen years later, with millions in revenues and 1,000 students, he sold it for $135 million to Leeds Weld & Co., a private equity firm that includes former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on its board. They in turn sold the school to the current owners who run the respected university completely separately from IUON.

But Ross’ entrepreneurial spirit really started at age 13 when he sold newspapers in Detroit, then $5 Mickey Mouse watches to Russian soldiers during WWII for $1,000 each and then introduced television to the Midwest and Southeast United States. Today he runs a $100 million mega-corporation that includes eight corporations, including a commodities trading business, IUON, and Why Snore, among others.

IUON was created as a direct response to the nursing shortage crisis. Back in 2002 the Department of Health & Human Services reported a deficit of 125,000 nurses; this deficit is expected to grow to 500,000 by 2015.

Dr. Ross created a partnership with colleges in the United States to develop the first international nursing school. Faculty members were recruited from all over the world, but many come from the United States because of the salaries ($70,000 to $80,000 a year) and tax breaks. Section 911 of the U.S. tax code allows Americans working abroad for at least 13 months to exclude up to $80,000 a year of income from U.S. tax.

The state-of-the-art facilities were built in nine months, the benefit of an apparently unlimited budget. The 50,000-square-foot campus was created on a beautiful 10 acre lot. SimMan life size human simulators give birth, cough and moan. The facilities compare with the best nursing schools in the world and integrate audiovisual and computer technology in all the academic facilities, including classrooms with plasma screens, laboratories, a 210-seat auditorium, a WiFi connected library and the learning resource center.

Students spend three semesters studying in paradise with a view of the Caribbean Sea and then transfer to the U.S. to complete their clinical and didactic education at an IUON affiliated institution. Degrees are conferred by the American school, while students also receive a separate degree from IUON.

The diverse student body includes American and foreign students. Many come because there is no waiting list at Ross University, while the rest choose to earn their two-year associate degree while living in on beautiful St. Kitts.