University of Pikeville set to inaugurate first alumnus as president

Ceremony part of homecoming week celebration

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (Oct. 15, 2013) – The University of Pikeville will celebrate the inauguration of Dr. James L. Hurley on Friday, Oct. 18. A graduate of the Class of 1999, Hurley is the first alumnus in the institution’s 124-year history to serve as president. The community is invited to join the campus family in commemorating the occasion.

The formal installation ceremony will be conducted at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville beginning at 1 p.m. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., will serve as keynote speaker for the event. The Inaugural Gala also will be conducted at the Expo Center on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets and registration are required for the gala.

Events throughout the week include a student prayer breakfast, alumni art exhibit and Distinguished Educators Hall of Fame awards. The inauguration celebration will be held in conjunction with the university’s annual homecoming week celebration.

With four consecutive record enrollments, the University of Pikeville is one of the fastest growing four-year institutions in the south. Since 2009, Hurley has played an integral role in advancing the founding mission to serve the people of Central Appalachia, working alongside dedicated educators and servant leaders who transformed the institution from college to university status, developed new programs of study, and most recently, established the Coleman College of Business – the third college under the university banner.

“Would our founders, Presbyterian ministers with a mission to educate the youth of the mountains, have dreamed of the day when the first alum nus, a son of Eastern Kentucky, would lead the institution,” said Terry Dotson, chairman of the university’s board of trustees. “As our 20th president, Dr. Hurley brings the promise of the founders full circle.”

Hurley earned his bachelor’s degree from Pikeville College, a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Indiana University, a Rank I in Instructional Supervision from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Morehead State University.
UPIKE’s iconic 99 steps led this graduate to the presidency, and also to his wife, Tina, an alumna of the Class of 1999 who shares her husband’s love for the university that now honors her as first lady.