The state Probate Court yesterday appointed First Hawaiian Bank executive Corbett Kalama as a trustee of the $7.7 billion Kamehameha Schools.

Kalama replaces Constance Lau, who announced last year that she would step down from the trust's five-member board after she was named chief executive officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

Kalama is an executive vice president at First Hawaiian and is responsible for the bank's O'ahu region, where he manages about 500 employees and $3.8 billion in business and individual assets.

"Corbett is a fine Hawaiian leader, and I think he will do a good job as a trustee," said Jan Dill, a 1950 Kamehameha Schools graduate and a board member of Na Pua a Ke Ali'i Pauahi, an organization made up of Kamehameha Schools parents and graduates.

Kalama, whose appointment takes effect April 1, will serve the remainder of Lau's five-year term, which expires on June 30, 2008. Kalama can be reappointed for a maximum of two five-year terms.

He joins trustees Diane Plotts, Robert Kihune, Nainoa Thompson and J. Douglas Ing. Ing was reappointed Friday to a five-year term.

Trustees each receive about $100,000 in annual compensation; the board's chairman earns about $110,000.

Probate Judge Colleen Hirai picked Kalama from a list of three finalists recommended by a court-appointed trustee screening committee. The finalists included local attorney Allen Hoe and former city budget director Ivan Lui-Kwan.

All three finalists are of Hawaiian ancestry.

"You had three good candidates," said Oswald Stender, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee and former Kamehameha Schools trustee. "But having someone with a financial background to replace Connie is great. ... He's a very good person with very strong Hawaiian values."

Established by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the Kamehameha Schools is a charitable trust that educates children of Hawaiian ancestry. The estate is the state's largest private landowner and is one of the nation's wealthiest charities.

Kalama joins a trust that is in the middle of a 15-year strategic plan to broaden its educational reach. His appointment also comes as the school has faced several legal challenges to its Hawaiian-preference admissions policy.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the policy last year but the case could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kalama has been a First Hawaiian employee since 1982. He is a trustee of the University of Hawai'i Foundation and has served as trustee for the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center.

Prior to joining First Hawaiian, Kalama worked as a teacher at Kailua High School. Kalama's wife is a schoolteacher, and three of his four children graduated from the Kamehameha Schools.

"Corbett is an exceptional banker and a man of integrity," said First Hawaiian President and Chief Executive Officer Don Horner. "His personal background, experience, and heart are well suited for the mission of Kamehameha Schools."

Paulette Moore, a 1952 Kamehameha Schools graduate, said Kalama impressed alumni and members of the school's 'ohana during a candidates forum last November.

During his presentation, Kalama recited his genealogy in the Hawaiian language, which convinced many of the kupuna in the audience that he was the right person, Moore said.

"We felt we didn't need another lawyer. We needed someone with a different point of view," said Moore. "Because he came from such a large family that struggled, he understands how it is that Hawaiians live on the beach."

Na Pua's Dill said members of his organization, while pleased with Kalama's appointment, were critical of the way in which the court went about the selection. Members of the Kamehameha Schools 'ohana had too little input in the way the selection was made, he said.

"The composition of the selection process guarantees the continuation of status quo," Dill said.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.