David DeStefano has been appointed chairman of the board at Vertex Inc., a family-owned provider of tax software and solutions based in King of Prussia, Pa.
DeStefano, a non-family executive, will continue to serve as president and CEO of Vertex. He was named to those positions in 2016.
He joined Vertex as vice president of finance in 1999 and later became chief financial officer and executive vice president. Prior to joining the company, he was principal and vice president at The Mid-Atlantic Companies Ltd.
Vertex's previous chairman, Jeff Westphal, will continue to serve as a member of the Vertex board. Westphal, who co-owns Vertex with his sisters, preceded DeStefano as the company's president and CEO.
The Vertex board has also named Ric Andersen as lead independent director. Andersen, who joined the board in 2008, is a managing partner at Peak Equity, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm. He has more than 25 years of consulting and management experience at IBM, Price Waterhouse and PwC Consulting.