PELLA — Central College Class of 2026 will get a heartfelt message during Commencement with Mike Main, M.D., cardiologist, Central trustee and 1987 graduate. Central’s Commencement program will be 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium.

The heart specialist will bring a message of hope as the Class of 2026 begins its next journey. Main is a practicing cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, with clinical interests including valvular heart disease and echocardiography. He serves as senior vice president and chief clinical officer for Saint Luke’s and as president of Saint Luke’s Physician Group, which includes over 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers. He is a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals.

The Johnston, Iowa, native earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Central before heading to the University of Iowa for his medical degree. His love for education which began at Central, morphed into a lifetime of learning with residency, fellowship and advanced certifications.

His post-graduate training included a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, followed by an advanced cardiac imaging fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to his medical training, he completed an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Healthcare Leadership and Management at the Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas.

He is an active member of multiple professional societies and has served on the American Society of Echocardiography Board of Directors, the American College of Cardiology Board of Governors, the International Contrast Ultrasound Society Board of Directors, the American Board of Internal Medicine Cardiovascular Disease Exam Committee and the Central Board of Trustees since 2016.

For more information on Commencement, visit central.edu/commencement.