Randy McKinney, vice-chairman of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education will provide the keynote address during Troy University’s Fall Commencement Exercises at 10 a.m. on Dec. 16 in Trojan Arena.

More than 650 students representing 23 U.S. states, two U.S. territories, the District of Columbia and eight nations outside the United States are expected to participate in the ceremony.

McKinney was appointed to an at-large district on the Commission by Gov. Robert Bentley, and had previously served as vice-president of the Alabama State Board of Education, from 2003 – 2012. An attorney with the firm of McKinney and Associates in Gulf Shores, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of South Alabama and a master’s degree in religious education at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a juris doctorate at Birmingham School of Law.

He also owns Realty Executives Gulf Coast based in Gulf Shores. He has served as an assistant district attorney in the 28th Judicial Circuit, and as president of the Alabama Association of Realtors. He is a member of the Baldwin County Bar Association and the Alabama Bar Association.