Generations of alumni advancing Kentucky: Homecoming Week spotlight on E. Michael Castle

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 9, 2024) — It’s University of Kentucky Homecoming week — a time when the UK community comes together to celebrate and honor its alumni. This week, UKNow is shining a spotlight on just a few of the thousands of alumni who embody the university’s mission to advance Kentucky. Spanning generations, these Wildcats are making lasting impacts in the Commonwealth and beyond through their careers and service to their communities.

Today’s spotlight is on E. Michael “Mike” Castle II, a 2002 graduate from the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, originally from Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Earlier this year, Castle was appointed chief operations and financial officer at Alltech Inc., a leading global company in the agriculture industry based in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Castle has been with Alltech for 19 years (after starting as a UK engineering intern), and most recently served as chief operating officer and CEO of the Alltech Feed Division. He has deep experience in the business globally, having also served as chief administrative and legal officer, among other roles.

Read more below to learn how Castle’s UK experience shaped his path and inspires the work he does today.

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UKNow: What’s your favorite UK memory?

Castle: There are two. One great one was when UK upset Alabama in football in 1997. We hadn’t beaten Alabama since 1922, so that was a big overtime win early on in my college career. The second one was presenting our senior engineering project. I think both were something really special to start my college experience and something special to end on.

UKNow: What did you study at UK, and how are you using your degree(s)/UK education to advance Kentucky?

Castle: I studied chemical engineering and completed a minor in mathematics. Everything I do today revolves around science. Our business at Alltech is built on science, so I use it quite frequently — maybe not in my day-to-day responsibilities, but in all the products we make. You have to understand the science and how we manufacture our products — so, really, everything that relates to my job — it’s quite critical. I’d argue that Alltech is one of the top agriculture companies in the world. I think it’s very unique in that our purpose is working together for a planet of plenty. All the products we make and sell are built on a fermentation-based, natural platform, so nonpharmaceutical, nonsynthetic chemistry-based. I — and the whole team — take great pride in the products we manufacture and how we're trying to improve the food chain and provide better nutrition for all.

At Alltech, we hire interns every summer; I speak with our engineering students and at the Gatton College of Business and Economics every year with people who want a career in the supply chain. We also hire interns across engineering, marketing, agriculture and a host of other disciplines. We try to hire as many people from UK as we can who want to stay here and want to work in a global business one day.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be a graduate of UK?

Castle: There’s a sense of loyalty…of pride…almost inclusiveness. Growing up, I was around family members who graduated from UK — my mother and many aunts and uncles — and we’d go to sporting events. UK would host alumni events, and there was just this sense of pride. Living in Kentucky and being a Kentucky grad — that’s quite special. Even today, when I travel for work or during some of our vacation time in Florida, we’ll be out boating or on the golf course, and we’ll see a Kentucky flag go by, and we’ll say hello to that person or introduce ourselves — it’s an instant connection. I think there’s a sense of pride in attending UK that is quite unique compared to most universities.

UKNow: Were there any specific professors, mentors or student organizations that had a lasting effect on you? 

Castle: There were two: Dr. Eric Grulke, who unfortunately passed away right before COVID, and Dr. Winston Ho, who later became chair of The Ohio State University chemical engineering department. They were instrumental in steering my career in science and engineering. They gave me great feedback along the way. They were just a wonderful sounding board. Whatever the subject, I could always go to them for help.

UKNow: What advice would you give current Wildcats?

Castle: I often get asked this and tell kids something Pearce Lyons (Alltech founder) told me. He asked me one day, “Why do you want to study science?” and I said, “Well, I like science.” And he said, “That’s a good answer. I think the most successful people that have come into this business or most businesses do everything with fun and passion.”

I tell kids, “Make sure whatever you do, whatever field of study you pick, you’re having fun with it, and you’re really passionate about it.” I tell my kids — my oldest is in college, my youngest is starting to look — “Pick a career that’s valuable today that will also be valuable in the future.” I tell them, “I think the hard sciences aren’t going anywhere, but there’s a lot of other fields — digital marketing, AI, robotics — these things are on the cutting edge, and they’re going to be very pertinent for our futures and how we deal with medicine, operations, solving production challenges, so make sure you find those fields that are viable for the future, not just today, and make sure your career is as future-proof as it can be.”

The second piece of advice I give is that you have to get experience; your education is just one piece. Education is lifelong, in my view, so you have to read, you have to educate yourself well beyond the four to five years that you’re in college. My view is to get work experience early on — it’s invaluable — so I’m constantly pushing the young kids to get an internship, get the information and make sure the work experience matches their passion for the degree they’re studying. I think if you do that, you’re going to be quite successful.

My last piece of advice is to work hard. Hard work solves 90% of the problems, and I think some people come in and think, “I should get this role, I should get this title,” and they don’t realize the hours that go into getting to that position. Outwork everyone — it will be noticed, and if you do those things, I think you’re going to be very successful in your career.

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The UK community and the public are invited to celebrate UK Homecoming 2024 all week long by taking part in some of the 50-plus events happening on campus and beyond this week. Learn more here or visit https://homecoming.uky.edu/.