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By: Amy Charles | May 2, 2025
The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) will honor students earning degrees in undergraduate, graduate and health professions on Saturday, May 10, at the Appalachian Wireless Arena in downtown Pikeville. The ceremony for the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM) and the Kentucky College of Optometry will take place at 9:30 a.m., and the ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences, the Coleman College of Business, the College of Nursing and Human Services and the Patton College of Education will take place at 2 p.m. Both events will be available for viewing via livestream on UPIKE’s YouTube channel.
The keynote speaker for the health professions ceremony is Patrick Heist, Ph.D., distinguished microbiologist, entrepreneur and industry leader in fermentation science and distillation. He is the co-founder, co-owner and chief scientific officer of both Ferm Solutions and Wilderness Trail Distillery, playing a pivotal role in advancing fermentation research and bourbon production.
Heist began his academic journey at the University of Kentucky, earning his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in microbiology and plant pathology with a focus on bacteria, yeast and fungi. He taught medical microbiology at KYCOM from 2003 to 2009 before co-founding Ferm Solutions in 2006 with Shane Baker, offering research, engineering and technical services to more than 200 distilleries worldwide. In 2013, they launched Wilderness Trail Distillery, which quickly rose to global prominence under Heist’s scientific leadership, known for its proprietary yeast strains, infusion mashing and sweet mash fermentation. His transition from academia to business innovation has made him a recognized leader in fermentation science and distillation.
Ambassador Kelly Craft will be the keynote speaker for the graduate and undergraduate ceremony. Craft served as the 30th U.S. Representative to the United Nations (UN) from 2019 to 2021 and the 31st U.S. Ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019. During her time at the UN, she played a pivotal role in implementing the Abraham Accords, which marked a major milestone in Middle East diplomacy by normalizing relations between Israel and four Arab nations. Craft actively opposed anti-Israel bias at the UN and worked to deepen the U.S.-Israel relationship across multiple fronts.
As Ambassador to Canada, she was instrumental in the negotiations of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which modernized the North American Free Trade Agreement and introduced groundbreaking labor protections. Beyond her diplomatic service, Craft is engaged with organizations such as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship and the Institute for the Study of War. She is deeply committed to education, having co-founded the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics and served on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. Today, she continues to contribute to global discussions on security and international relations, notably advocating for regional stability in the Indo-Pacific and supporting Taiwan on international platforms.
For more ceremony information, visit upike.edu/commencement.