Mike Karpathakis began his EKU journey pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with encouragement from his then employer’s (Ajax Magnethermic Corporation) generous tuition reimbursement program. In 1998, while working full-time as an electrical engineer, Mike earned an MBA degree from Eastern’s outstanding College of Business with a 3.98 GPA. Mike fondly remembered collaborating alongside fellow MBA classmate, now Dr. James Kirby Easterling.
Mike, a native of Athens, Greece, arrived in the United States at age 17 to attend the American Language Academy at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. In 1988, he earned both his Bachelor of Science degree in physics at Baldwin Wallace University and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. In 1996, Mike became a proud American citizen.
Mike served as an electrical engineer for 12 years at Ajax Magnethermic Corporation in Richmond, Kentucky, and 14 years as an electrical engineering manager at Lexmark International, Inc., in Lexington, Kentucky. His work travel took him everywhere from France, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, China and the Philippines to every state in the continental United States.
The Karpathakis family was active in the Richmond and EKU communities for more than 30 years. They became eternal Colonels when their only child, daughter Erin, graduated from Model Laboratory School in 2016 and earned her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in risk management and insurance at Eastern in 2020. Wife and mother, Melinda, practiced law in Richmond, Kentucky, for 23 years before serving as the director of gift and estate planning at Eastern for seven years and as adjunct faculty in the EKU paralegal program for nine years.
In October 2016, at age 51, Mike was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare visual variant of early-onset Alzheimer’s. As a result, he fought a long and brutal seven-year battle with this degenerative disease and sadly passed away in January 2024, at age 58.
Since all three members of Mike’s immediate family have close connections and passion for the mission of EKU, in January 2024, Melinda and Erin worked with friend and EKU Director of Development, Marie Fore, to establish the Mike Karpathakis Endowed MBA Scholarship Fund. The scholarship would be the first graduate student endowed scholarship at Eastern—to honor Mike’s memory and ease some of the financial burden for graduate students pursuing their MBA degree. Mike was grateful to have been the recipient of tuition assistance from his employer, and Erin, too, is grateful to have been an EKU scholarship recipient. In addition, during the early stages of his disease, Mike benefited from participation with graduate students in EKU’s Occupational Therapy Memory Café and in activities they sponsored at his memory care facility.
The Karpathakis family has a boundless love for Eastern students, and they desire to see them continue to grow and prosper.
To make a gift in support of the Mike Karpathakis Endowed MBA Scholarship, please visit go.eku.edu/give-Karpathakis.
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