Deanell Reece Tacha, a former federal appeals court judge and currently the dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law, has been elected chair of the Kansas University Endowment’s board of trustees.

The board also elected Charles Heath as vice chair and five other KU alumni as trustees during the its annual meeting on Friday

Tacha served on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1985 to 2011 and was chief judge of the Denver-based court from 2001 to 2007. She has been dean of the Pepperdine law school since 2011.

Tacha, of Lawrence and Malibu, Calif., will replace A. Drue Jennings, of Prairie Village, who served four one-year terms.

Heath, of Lawrence, is an independent director and compliance committee chair for Tortoise Capital Advisors’ closed-end funds.

KU Endowment is the independent, non-profit organization that serves as the fundraising arm for KU.

The new trustees are Steve Lightstone, of Kansas City, Mo.; Cathy Reinhardt, of Lawrence; Annette Rieger, of Seattle; Elizabeth “Beth” Stella, of Lawrence; and Thomas Walsh, of Leawood.

Lightstone is a managing director of CC Capital Advisors; Reinhardt is president of Reinhardt Financial Services Inc.; Rieger and her husband Roger are owners of a private family foundation, the Tudor Foundation; Stella is a retired KU research scientist and community volunteer; and Walsh is co-chairman of Silpada Designs Inc.