KU Endowment elects three new trustees

October 6, 2017

At the annual meeting of the KU Endowment Board of Trustees on Oct. 6, 2017, three new trustees were elected: Joanna Rupp of Chicago; Elizabeth A. Schartz of Dallas; and R. Todd Slawson of Denver.

Joanna Rupp graduated from KU in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She earned her MBA cum laude from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is managing director of the $1.1 billion private equity portfolio for the University of Chicago’s endowment. Previously, she has held positions with Security Capital Markets Group, Goldman Sachs and U.S. Central Credit Union. Rupp is a member of the KU Alumni Association and the Chancellors Club; she is a Kauffman Fellow and serves on the KU School of Business Board of Advisors.

Elizabeth A. Schartz earned a juris doctor from KU in 1988 and a bachelor’s degree in history and economics, summa cum laude, at St. Mary of the Plains College. She is a partner with Thompson & Knight, LLP, in Dallas, where she focuses on client counseling and litigation of employment and labor law matters. Schartz previously was a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Her prior experience includes serving as judicial clerk for the Honorable James K. Logan, 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. She is a life member of the KU Alumni Association and the Chancellors Club and a past member of the KU Law Alumni Board of Governors.

R. Todd Slawson graduated from KU in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. He is the president of Slawson Companies and oversees its oil and gas, real estate and hospitality operations. Slawson began his career in North Dakota before settling in Denver. He and his family made the lead gift for Slawson Hall on KU’s Lawrence campus in honor of Todd’s late father, Donald Slawson. He is a life member of the KU Alumni Association and the Chancellors Club.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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October 6, 2017