Kansas University officials expressed condolences Wednesday after the death of KU alumnus and Wyandotte County District Court Judge Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Meeks, of Kansas City, Kan., died Wednesday. He was 63.

“Cordell was an inspirational leader for racial equality in our region. He motivated us all to do better. We will miss him dearly,” KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said.

Meeks earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1964 and a law degree at KU in 1967. He was a second-generation law school alumnus following his father, Cordell Meeks Sr., the first black district court judge in Kansas.

Meeks was a member and president of the KU law school’s Law Society Board of Governors. He was a past national chairman of the Alumni Association. He also was a member of the Chancellors Club. He received the Distinguished Service Citation from the Alumni Association in 1995 and the Distinguished Alumnus Citation from the law school in 2001.